Percy Jackson and the Son of Athena and Daughter of Apollo
by Lightning Lord Kaji
Summary: Percy and his friends hook up with two unlikely heroes who help them on their rise to power. Percy Jackson and the Olympians retold from Titans Curse to the Last Olympian. Largely follows the canon plot with my twists and adds.
1. Prologue

I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians or Heroes of Olympus

Hey guys, sorry if you guys wanted me to work on my Maelstrom story. I am still working on it so don't worry about that. I'm making this story to give myself a break from Maelstrom so I don't get tired of it. My cousin and myself created this story since we're huge Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus fans but we haven't really thought of making it until now. This does involve OC's but they're not paired with the main cast and it largely follows the canon plot but with a few changes to suit my needs. Also I apologize if I don't get the characters' personalities right.

Prologue: An Unlikely Rescue

"Come on Sapphire, we need to find someplace to rest for the night before the sun goes down," a youth called back to his female companion. They were both in some kind of forest but they were going up a river at the moment and the girl was lagging behind her male companion as they trekked over the rocks that adorned the river's edge.

He was a young boy of only thirteen years old. He was slightly tanned with grey eyes and rather long pale blonde hair in a messy style. He was on the tall side and he was fairly attractive. He was a bit slim but it didn't seem to hinder him as he trekked through the rocky-forest terrain he and his companion were on. The attire he wore consisted of simple blue running shoes along with some worn looking jeans; he was also wearing a grey t-shirt and a black leather jacket with grey sleeves and a grey hood. He was also carrying a black and grey backpack.

"I'm coming Raph, don't worry about it so much!" his companion known as, Sapphire called. She started moving over the rocks a lot more quickly to try to appease him.

Sapphire was a young girl that looked about thirteen like, Raph. She had long light blonde hair that was so light it looked like it was silver. She kept up in a nice ponytail by a red ribbon, while having her hair fall down around both her temples to frame her face nicely. She was pretty with green eyes and a slight tan; she was also a bit tall but not as tall as her friend. Her attire consisted of red sneakers along with blue jeans and a red t-shirt with a simple but nice looking blue jacket. She also carried a backpack but hers was blue.

"Come on, our little goat friend is already at the waterfall I bet and I don't want him to get annoyed waiting for us to catch up," Raph replied as he started moving across the rocks. He was cautious about the water for some reason but he didn't know why exactly, it just seemed to be…threatening to him even though it was going at a gentle pace. Never the less, he took care not to miss a step and touch the water by accident.

"Well we aren't half goat, now are we? So we can't hop rocks like him," Sapphire retorted as she continued along, trying to catch up to her friend.

Raph hoped their little half-goat friend/guide/"protector" was far enough away not to hear them. Sapphire had a way of letting her temper and annoyance get ahead of her and he didn't want their guide to get hurt and run off without them; he was pretty sure, Sapphire already hurt poor Grover's feelings already. It wasn't his fault that they weren't as suited for rocky terrain like he was.

"Just be quiet about Grover and come on. We don't want some monster to sneak up on us again," Raph shot back in an annoyed tone as he started hopping the rocks a bit faster, hoping to get somewhere where he wasn't suspended above a large amount of water. He could swim but he never felt very welcome in water at all.

"Right…am I the only one that's still taking this a bit slowly? I mean, we were just two relatively normal teens with dyslexia and ADHD, going to school a few days ago. Then we found out that the new kid we helped out is half-goat and half-man while the bully that's bugged us our entire lives turned out to be some freaky monster with one eye. Then we find out we are half-god. And now we're out here, running for our lives from a bunch of monsters that want to kill us! Did I get that right?" Sapphire asked. Raph paused on his rock jumping when she asked that. He had to agree with her that their lives had taken a bit of a drastic turn.

"I can't disagree with you there…though…it does make sense in a way…I mean from what you told me, even before we both met, strange things seemed to happen to us and ever since we met, they've only gotten weirder" he replied as he turned to wait for his friend to catch up.

Raph and Sapphire met when they were in elementary school. They were both kids that had a hard time reading along with ADHD and weird things tended to happen to the poor kids. Naturally, a lot of people kept their distance. They were both raised by only one parent for their early childhoods but they didn't think too much of that since that was common in America, nevertheless, it still served as something to connect them. They became friends very fast due to their similar problems. Ever since then, the two stuck together throughout their lives as things only seemed to get weirder for them.

A bunch of times, while the two were messing around or playing, which was a lot since the two had trouble staying still; they would notice some strange individuals following them around until hey went running back to their parents. It freaked them both out a lot especially since it seemed to happen more frequently as they got older. It wasn't just people following them but things like cars narrowly hitting the two or animals reacting violently to them and their owners seeming to be glaring at them; many of these things and more happened around them.

Because of these incidents, people around them started to think that they were both bad luck and some kind of plague, or they seemed to think Raph was, no one really thought to badly of Sapphire. Nonetheless Sapphire stayed loyal to him and stuck by him as his one friend, something he would always be grateful for.

Until recently of course the two met their little half-goat friend. They found him being teased by a bunch of bullies from their school, so they helped him out. The bullies ran away of course, since even they were afraid of them. They accepted Grover as one of their friend's, at least for a time. They allowed him to hang out with him for a time, since he didn't have anywhere else to go but they were still wary of him since they had trust issues.

After a few days though, Grover began telling them some strange things. He began telling talking to them about Greek mythology; things like the old legends of how the great titan, Kronos was defeated by his own sons, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. He also talked about the other Olympian gods, like Athena, Apollo and so on. Then he began talking about the children those gods had with mortals, they were called demigods.

At first, Raph was just interested since he was a total history nerd; it was nice to talk to someone about those things since Sapphire wasn't exactly a history nerd like he was. Except, things quickly changed since Grover started telling them that they were children of the Olypian Gods, Demigods. Raph and Sapphire rebuked him at first since it was totally out of the blue and it sounded preposterous.

Unfortunately though Grover was telling the truth and they both found out the hard way. Alik, the bully that's pestered them since they were little, turned out to be a monster straight out of Mythology. He caught them at their school one day in an empty hallway. They didn't pay it much mind at first since he'd stopped trying to hurt them after Raph started taking karate. Except this time, things were different. He did attack them but it was like he gained some kind of super strength since they last saw him. He tossed them both across the hall like they were pillows. He started laughing with some kind of inhuman voice and then it was like an illusion or something like that faded and then they saw that he only had one eye and he was a lot bigger than they thought. It was only by Grover's interference, which included a knife to the back that the two survived.

Grover then told them that he knew a place where they could go, a place where they could be safe. Of course the two young teens wanted to tell their parents first. Raph's dad was a university teacher, who taught both history and mythology, while Sapphire's mother was a musician. They were unable to get ahold of Sapphire's mother since she was away on a tour but they were able to talk to Raph's father. He wasn't surprised when they told him that they had to go. He told Raph and Sapphire that they were indeed demigods, though he didn't tell them who their godly parents were. After a rather heartfelt goodbye and a promise to tell Sapphire's mom and Raph's stepmother goodbye, they geared up and set off. It was a long trip though. They had to somehow manage to get from California, all the way to Long Island, which was practically on the other side of the continent and then some.

"Well…I guess the trend continues, we meet someone else and now our lives have gotten a lot more complicated, again," Sapphire said jokingly. Raph couldn't help but laugh and Sapphire wasn't far behind him. Sapphire had a way of making his mood better, something he appreciated a lot. After he stopped laughing, he stared at Sapphire and noticed how lovely she looked when she was happy. He blushed after he realized what he was doing and shook his head.

"Come on Sapphire, we should really try to move. We can talk more as we move," Raph said quickly. Sapphire stopped laughing and she frowned softly at his sudden drop in mood. It made his heart ache knowing that he was the reason for her mood dropping but he shook his thoughts out of it and motioned for her to come forward. He reached out his hand to her and she grasped it before letting him help her onto the rock he was on.

"Thanks," she said as they both started hopping along the rocks again. They continued on like that for a few more moments until Sapphire spoke again.

"Hey Raphael?" she asked. Raph was immediately paying attention to her when she called him by his full name instead of his nickname. They still continued on their way but at a slower pace.

"Do you think that…it makes sense now that your mother and my father were never part of our lives? I mean, I'm not saying it excuses them but still. What do you think of all this?" she asked.

That question brought Raph to an impasse. He didn't know how to respond to that one. When he was a lot younger, he used to always pester his dad about where his mom was. He always told him that she was away and that she loved him. Naturally he began asking when she was going to come back and his father only said soon, looking back on it, Raph's father probably said that to reassure himself as well. For a few years, he always hoped that his mother would come through the door one day and tell him that she loved him and praised him. He always saw how other kids' mothers' treated them and he wanted that. Except after years of disappointment and anger at his mother for abandoning him, he just stopped hoping and did his best to move on.

His father did the same, apparently, he married a nice lady, who was actually a part of the military and Raph liked her as well. She was a very nice lady despite her profession and she cared for Raph like she was his real mother, she even taught him a lot of the fighting moves she learned at her boot camp. He had two little twin half-siblings who were only five years old back home and he was happy, or so he thought. Sapphire was in a similar predicament to him, just instead of her mother missing, it was her father. They both tried to put those stories to rest but now here they were, being dragged back.

If Raph wanted to be honest, he wanted to say that he could never forgive his mother for abandoning him and his father and that it was too little too late; he wasn't a little kid anymore, he was already thirteen. Still though…he couldn't deny that he was curious and even a bit excited to have news. He was never able to find _anything_ out about his mother except that he apparently acted a lot like her. Now it made sense why he didn't find anything. The only other thing that kept him from immersing himself in hate was the silver necklace that seemed to grow a bit warm. He reached under his jacket and he pulled it out to look at it as he came to a stop on a rock.

The necklace was a nice silver chain with an owl's head hanging from it along with a small black gem on the forehead of the owl. It was something he carried ever since he could remember, for reasons unknown to him he always felt like he had to wear it. His father said that it was a gift from his mother before she left, he added to his thoughts. He had a _very _vague memory of someone placing the necklace onto him; he assumed it was his mother. His father said something about it being a token of her love for him and that it would protect him but he didn't know what to feel about that. As he looked at the necklace, he found that he couldn't really hate his mother but he couldn't say he liked her either.

"I don't really know what to say to be honest, Sapphire. It's been a long time," Raph said as he let the necklace fall back against his chest. He turned to look at Sapphire and she seemed to be in thought as well.

"Well…I think I can forgive my father…I mean he did make sure my mother and I was taken care of even though he never interfered in my life," Sapphire said with a slight smile as she adjusted the little gold ring on her index finger.

Raph sighed softly but he smiled. Sapphire could never really stay mad at anyone; she was too kind for that but he liked that about her. Sapphire was always the…nicer of the two of them. Despite the fact that he was her only real friend, she was always very cheerful and optimistic and adventurous while he was the one that was always a bit more guarded and mistrustful.

The more he thought about it, the more nervous and envious he felt. Sapphire was always able to make friends even though she had this aura of danger around her like he did. He could never really bring himself to make new friends, at least for long. He didn't trust people after they shunned him even though they weren't the same people. Sapphire never had that problem with people like he did. She could always make friends even though she had the same problems as he did. He envied her ability to trust people. Still though, that was something he loved about her.

"You have a forgiving heart," Raph commented. Sapphire smiled at him, sympathetically and placed her hand on his arm.

"Don't worry so much, I bet you're mother cares about you…any parent would be proud of you," she said optimistically. Raph hoped she was right about that. They continued hopping the rocks in silence after that until they reached the waterfall that the river came from. They saw their little half-goat friend, standing near the bank before they had to start walking through trees. He started jumping a bit when he saw them.

"Guys, hurry up!" he shouted as he hopped on his goat legs, his brown hair flopped a bit, revealing his two small goat horns, Raph and Sapphire both freaked out(Raph internally) when they saw those. Raph heard Sapphire let out a puff of air in frustration at their guides impatience. It didn't take them long to meet up with him though.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked a bit nervously.

"Give us a break, Grover, we're not half-goat like you are," Sapphire replied, annoyed. Grover didn't seem to take the comment too well but thankfully he didn't look too distressed, thankfully.

"So, how much farther do we have to go again?" Sapphire asked next. Grover scratched his chin thoughtfully before he answered.

"Well it would take weeks on foot, if we're lucky; after all we're walking all the way across the country. I called some of my friends at the camp to meet us. They'll pick us up and get us back to camp safely. We're supposed to meet around here somewhere…" Grover said as he nervously looked around like something wasn't right. In fact, he looked like something bad was about to happen. Whatever he felt, Raph seemed to feel tense as well.

"What is it?" Raph asked. He didn't feel very…safe either and when he looked at Sapphire, he saw that she looked a bit tense as well. She met his eyes and they both shared the same look of distress before a bunch of loud roars hit their ears. The two teens both dove to the side as a rather large, black dog like beast, pounced out from the shadows, right where they would have been standing but somehow they reflexively got out of the way.

"Hellhound!" they heard Grover shout, followed by a surprised yelp. Raph looked at the beast and its hateful red eyes stared at him in hunger. It reared back to pounce on him and he closed his eyes, hoping it wouldn't hurt too much. Then something interesting happened. He heard the river start swooshing and churning like it had waves but that shouldn't be happening, the river was calm. It intrigued him so much that he opened his eyes to see the beast looking at the river as well. The water definitely was moving a bit unnaturally and then the water suddenly shot out and grabbed the beast and pulled it in. Raph's eyes went wide at the scene.

"Raph! Get up!" Sapphire called as she rushed over and grabbed his arm. Raph shook off his shock and quickly got up from the ground. Then he saw why she was so alarmed. More of those beasts started creeping out of the trees. Grover had a knife in his hand and he was swinging it at them, somewhat warding them off but it was obvious the hounds were still pressing. Raph's heart felt like it was going to burst from his chest. He didn't know what to do, he looked at the water but it was calm again, no help from the water this time. Sapphire embraced him tightly and she buried her head into his chest, she didn't want to see it coming. Raph wrapped his arms around her protectively; at least they'd doe in each other's arms. He had to say one thing though.

"Sapphire?" he asked, timidly. Sapphire lifted her head up a bit to look at him.

"Before the end I have to say that I-" before he could finish, a rather loud war cry hit their ears followed by the whimpers of beasts. They both looked back towards the beasts and their eyes widened when they saw many of the beasts start turning to gold dust. A girl, wielding a spear and a menacing shield was tearing through some of the beasts and next to her was a boy, wielding a sword, also cutting down the beasts left and right. The beasts or hellhounds as Grover called them were starting to back off slightly at the appearance of these two. He felt a tug on his jacket and he looked to his left and suddenly a blonde girl materialized out of nowhere.

"Are you two ok?" she asked with some concern. If it wasn't already shocking that she just materialized out of nowhere, it was pretty shocking to Raph that her eyes were the same shade of grey like his. Sapphire had separated from his arms at the question and she seemed to have a small blush.

"Yes, um what's going on?" she asked.

"I'm Annabeth and those two are Percy and Thalia, we're here to-" before she could finish, her friend, Thalia interrupted.

"We're saving your butts that's what!" the girl with the spear shouted back at them. Raph turned to see that while the two were holding them back nicely, they were slowly pulling back to them since they were starting to get a bit outnumbered. Grover had pulled some kind of pipes out of nowhere and he was playing a tune that was not exactly pleasant to the ears, Raph winced a bit.

"Get back!" Annabeth ordered as she pulled a dagger out and got in front of the two. Then Raph saw Thalia raise her spear and lightning dropped down and stuck her spear before she fired it at the beasts. After that the river suddenly rushed forward and dragged more of the beasts into a watery death. Raph was basically in awe of the power the two displayed. Except two hellhounds broke through the line and rushed right at them.

"Annabeth look out!" Percy shouted. Annabeth sprung forward to meet the first one but she had a knife so she had to risk getting closer to the beast. The hellhound pounced at her and tackled her onto the ground, trying to rip her throat out but she had her knife and started trying to stab the thing. Raph wanted to help but he was unarmed and to make matters worse, the other hellhound was running right at him and Sapphire!

"I need something to fight with!" he thought urgently. He looked around on the ground but he didn't even see a stick he could use.

"Push the gem on your charm…" a warm voice echoed inside his head. He didn't question the voice or hesitate, he reached up to his necklace and then he pushed the black gem and then he felt something in his hand but he didn't have to time to see what it was. The world seemed to slow down for an instant and in that instant Raph felt his arm swing to the side expertly and then the hellhound burst into gold dust. He didn't stop there though, he sprung at the hellhound trying to kill Annabeth and he killed it with one swing. Annabeth stared at him in shock and at that moment, Raph came back to reality. He looked at his right hand and he saw that he was holding a sword in his hand, covered in a bit of golden dust. He saw the symbol of an owl right above the separator but before he could think about it more, Thalia and Percy were by his side.

"Nice moves, feel like helping out some more?" Thalia asked. Raph felt the world start slowing down again and then he lifted his sword up, which had started glowing red. Then with a war cry he swung the sword and a large arc of energy shot out at the hellhounds in front of them. The beasts were disintegrated on impact and the rest all tried to run away.

"Ugh…" whatever adrenaline Raph felt, left him and he felt exhausted. He would have fallen onto the ground but Thalia and Percy caught him.

"That was…interesting…" Percy said as he helped ease Raph into a standing position.

"Really?" Thalia asked, sarcastically.

"Raph!" Sapphire shouted and then Raph felt Thalia move away so Sapphire could take her place.

"What are your names demigods?" Raph looked up to see Annabeth looking at him rather oddly, Grover was behind her, looking at him in shock.

"My name is Sapphire…" Sapphire answered but she was more concerned with Raph. Raph stood up straight despite his exhaustion and gripped his sword firmly before it fell from his hand.

"My name is Raphael," he answered. Annabeth gave him a small smile and then she offered her hand.

"Well let's get you to camp and introduce you to our siblings,"


	2. School Sucks a lot

I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians or Heroes of Olympus

Hey guys, this story will be going through Titans Curse all the way to Last Olympian. The chapters will all be in Raph POV and some will be in Sapphire's I'm afraid since I don't trust myself to do Percy's correctly.

Chapter 1: School Sucks…a lot…

Raphael's POV

Raphael was sitting in a Van with Sapphire and his new friend's Percy, Thalia and Annabeth. Percy's mother, Ms. Jackson was also in the car, driving it obviously since everyone else was underage. He was sitting in the very back with Sapphire while Percy had the front and Annabeth and Thalia took the middle.

They were heading to Maine and it was a very long drive, longer than Raph or Sapphire liked. Grover had sent them a distress call all the way from Maine. Thankfully they were already at New York, Raph would have absolutely hated it if he had to get to Maine all the way from California. It was still a lot longer than he liked though. He hated being cramped up in cars for long periods.

It had been a week since Raphael and Sapphire reached the camp that Grover told them about and about a week and a half since the two met Percy, Thalia and Annabeth. The two friends actually got along with the three fellow demigods quite well. Percy was a son of Poseidon, god of the seas and one of the big three; despite his skills he was a bit silly and he always embarrassed himself some how in front of everyone from time to time but he was a very nice guy. Thalia was a daughter of Zeus, king of the gods, also one of the big three; Thalia was a very tomboyish girl, she was strong and tough, no one wanted to mess with her.

Finally Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom. Annabeth was a bit cold to the two at first despite her welcome she gave to Raph when he killed the hellhounds. She warmed up to Raphael quickly though since apparently he was a son of Athena and that made them half-siblings. Then they really kicked it off when Annabeth overheard Raph trying to help Sapphire with her history homework; though Raph would argue that he basically did it for her. It was a fairly social trip to the camp though, a lot of it consisting of Raphael and Annabeth talking about history and/or famous monuments. Sapphire joked that they were totally related even though they weren't sure.

Their time at camp was best described as…interesting. They were introduced to Chiron, the Centaur in charge of activities. Raph and Sapphire both liked him. Then they met the one in charge of the camp; then they met the director or the one the in charge of Camp Half-Blood, The God Dionysus or Mr. D as everyone called him. Raph and Sapphire didn't like him too much. Raph especially didn't like how he called him "Rolf" instead of Raphael. The one good thing that he said to them was that he confirmed he was a son of Athena since apparently Athena claims her children at birth and if that wasn't proof enough, the symbol on Raph's sword should have been enough. So he did not have to worry about being claimed, like every other new demigod.

Annabeth, Thalia and Percy took Raph and Sapphire to the training arena of the camp afterwards. Raph sparred against all three of them with his sword, separately of course. He had used a sword in his martial arts training so he at least had an idea how to fight, combined with his inherited battle instincts he fared fairly well. He defeated Annabeth twice, once fairly and the other time she used her invisibility cap. Of course Raph said she was cheated but Annabeth pointed out he was using his gift from their mother as well and said that a child of Athena has to be able to plan their way out of anything. Raph didn't know what to think of his mother but that still gave him the drive. He picked a handful of dirt off the ground and he threw it all around him. Annabeth may have been invisible but she was still a physical object. He won that match and Annabeth said she was impressed and wouldn't go easy on him next time.

His matches against both Percy and Thalia were rather disastrous though. Thalia's spear gave her longer reach and her shield gave her defense for when he did get close enough to strike. He lost rather painfully but he did get a good hook in, giving Thalia a bruise and a compliment from her. Percy on the other hand was a little worse. They were both using swords but Percy was a lot more skilled than he was. He lost badly every time he tried, he couldn't even get a hit in at all. He was sore for two days after that. He did learn about his sword ability though. Apparently it relied on his stamina to power it and he could only do it a few times a day at what they called "full" strength.

Now Sapphire's matches on the other hand were…cringe worthy. She had never used a weapon before. They tried giving her a sword, a spear, and an axe but she still didn't do too well at all. She seemed ok when she used a dagger but she still lost rather painfully to any of the three. Finally as if to answer her pleas she was claimed by her father, it was Apollo god of the sun and more importantly archery. Sapphire cursed him out saying that he could have done that sooner, making everyone laugh.

After that, they had to deal with the rest of the campers. Raphael's cabin seemed to accept him rather well even though Raph didn't exactly talk to them, though one thing that freaked him out was that one of the Athena cabin members said he was over a century old but he looked like he was only seventeen or eighteen; when he asked Annabeth for confirmation she said that demigods who truly prove themselves are given immortality by their godly parent and stop aging when they reach seventeen or eighteen, but they could still fall in battle. The campers name was Alex and apparently he proved himself in WWl, earning his immortality from their mother, Athena.

Sapphire was accepted without a doubt in her cabin and even the entire camp since everyone seemed to like or love her, one of the Aphrodite campers said that she'd be a good daughter of Aphrodite. Raph felt a bit angry when he caught a lot of the boy campers staring after Sapphire. Someone even had the never to go up to her and try to ask her out after the first few days. That ended with a broken nose, curtsey of Raph. Unfortunately Raph received most of the campers as he would at his school, he kept them at arms length, not willing to trust any of them. He even had problems trusting the three that showed him around.

Then a few days later, they got the call from Grover. Originally only Percy, Annabeth and Thalia were going to go but Raph and Sapphire wanted to go as well and they didn't take no for an answer, despite the dangers. Except it was a bit hard to focus on the dangers when Percy's mother kept telling them hilarious stories about Percy when he was younger.

"Mom please…" Percy begged. Thalia and Annabeth couldn't contain their laughter. Sapphire had basically falled onto Raph's lap in laughter and even Raph wasn't able to contain his amusement. It was hard to believe that Percy was an all-powerful demigod when you knew about all his embarrassing times. Thankfully for Percy though, they had arrived at their destination. They all got out of the car and pulled their bags out of the car and then they stood in front of the school.

"Are you sure, you don't want me to wait?" Ms. Jackson asked.

"We'll be fine Mom, it could take a while anyway," Percy said softly. Ms. Jackson looked a little worried and Raph suddenly missed his stepmom a bit; she was on a tour at the moment in the Middle East. He hoped she was ok.

"But how will you get back?" Ms. Jackson asked.

"We'll keep him out of trouble," Annabeth reassured, confidently. Raph smiled slightly and he nodded to confirm her declaration.

"He'll be fine with us," he added for effect.

"If he doesn't run away from us," Thalia snickered. Sapphire giggled at the remark but Raph and Annabeth tried to keep a straight face. Ms. Jackson seemed satisfied by that. After all, she knew how smart Annabeth was and how good Thalia was in a fight. Plus she could tell that Raph and Sapphire would only help them out.

"Ok then, do you have everything?" Ms. Jackson asked.

"We'll be fine, come on guys!" Percy said quickly. Ms. Jackson looked a little bit hurt and then she started lecturing Percy about something. Raph stopped paying attention since he noticed that there was real snow around him and it was snowing as well, he was in a nice snowstorm!

"Whoa…" Raph lived in California so he had never seen snow up close before, let alone falling all around him like it was then. He zipped his jacket up since he wasn't exactly used to the temperature. He looked to his right and Sapphire had pulled her small jacket closed and zipped it up she was shivering pretty badly though. Still though she looked at the snow in slight awe. Raph frowned and pulled his jacket off and offered it to her.

"Here, my jacket's made of leather, it'll help," Raph said. They were all dressed in slacks and button up shirts of their personal choice since Grover said that the school required them to look "nice". Except, Thalia and Raph had taken their jackets despite them being "bad" for a place like they were going.

"But what about you?" Sapphire asked as she took the jacket and pulled it around herself. She sighed in satisfaction and Raph couldn't help but smile. Thankfully she chose to wear slacks like the rest of them.

"I brought my favorite coat," Raph answered as he placed his bad on the ground. He unzipped the back and pulled out a white trench coat with black trim. It had two silver patches on the arms that were the marks of a lieutenant and it had a silver eagle symbol on the left upper portion of the body. He pulled it on, the left side going over the right and then he pulled the buttons in and he buckled the belt for it closed at a comfortable area. Thalia whistled a bit appreciatively when she saw it.

"Nice coat, is that why you wore white slacks?" she asked.

"Thanks and yes. This was a gift from my stepmom. I don't get to wear it too often since it's usually hot in California but I like it a lot," he said as he appreciated the warm and nice looking coat.

"Wearing all that white, you could blend in with the snow," Sapphire joked. They both laughed and then they noticed Percy's mother finally drive off after telling them to stay safe. Percy looked rather embarrassed and everyone shared a laugh at his expense.

"Let's just go…" he groaned as they started heading towards the school. Raph noticed Thalia and Percy seemed a bit hostile to one another but he didn't pay it much thought. Raph and Sapphire still admired the snow as they walked though since it was their first time after all.

"Never seen snow before?" Thalia asked. Raph held his hand out and let some snowfall into his hand, enjoying the cool flakes.

"Well it doesn't snow in California and I've never really seen snow like this. Even when I got to go on my father's fieldtrips to the monuments and museums, it was always in the summer," Raph said. At the mention of monuments and museums, Annabeth zeroed in on him.

"Monuments?" she asked, interested. Raph heard Thalia groan softly in slightly annoyance. Raph didn't particularly care though since he actually liked talking about monuments and history. He turned towards rather eager eyed sister with about the same amount of eagerness. He rarely got to talk about his interests since few people shared them.

"Yes, my father is a university teacher. He teaches history and mythology. He plans a couple field trips to famous monuments or museums here in America or anywhere really. He makes his students write reports on the places they go to and then they get to enjoy the area for the rest of the trip. I used to go with him on these trips a lot as long as they were staying in America, I don't get to do it too much anymore though since I have my little twin siblings to watch now," Raph said casually like it was normal. The two had walked a bit ahead of the rest of the group without realizing it.

"Where have you been?" she asked, she sounded calm but she was actually eager to hear what he said.

"We've gone to see a lot of the famous Monuments in America. We've gone to see Mount Rushmore, we've seen Lady Liberty of course, I got to stand at the head actually and see the Atlantic from there. We've been to Hoover Dam a couple times too. I haven't gotten to see the Washington Monument or the Gettysburg memorial yet unfortunately but I think my father will let me go next time. You know the funny thing is that generally his students prefer it if I go since I basically tell them what their notes are. My dad doesn't like it but I can't help but talk about the history and the creation of the beautiful creations," Raph said rather fast but Annabeth picked up every word. They both laughed about the last part and Raph began feeling a little more comfortable with her.

"Really? What was it like? Do you have pictures?" Annabeth asked. Before Raph replied, they already arrived at the entrance to the school. Westover Hall was the name of the school.

"Let's go in," Sapphire said quickly. Raph knew she was just trying to get them to break their conversation about supposed "boring" things but he let it slide since it was Sapphire. They all went into the school but it was quiet. Except something that was alarming was the amount of weapons along the walls.

"Whoa!" Percy exclaimed, Raph couldn't agree more. Raph flinched though after he got over his momentary shock. Something felt very wrong and eerie about that school.

"You guys feel that too?" Sapphire asked.

"Yeah it feels a bit like a trap," Percy said.

"Where-" suddenly the doors slammed shut behind them locking them in.

"Scratch that, it's definitely a trap," Percy corrected. There was nobody in the halls of the school and the only sound Raph could make was…dance music? It was coming from further down the hall. There must've been some kind of party going on but it was not a time to party for them.

They all shared a look before they got ready to draw their weapons if they had to. Raph made sure his necklace was not inside his coat but hanging out for everyone to see. He saw Thalia and Percy ready their respective weapons but they didn't draw them yet. Raph looked to see Sapphire fidgeting with her bracelet like a monster was about to jump out and surprise them.

They all placed their bags behind some pillars so they wouldn't be weighed down. They took two steps each and then footsteps hit their ears. Everyone flinched like they were about to get attacked but down the hall came two people, a man and a woman respectively. Though their facial features were a little backwards. The man's face was cleanly shaved while the woman had a think mustache for some reason. They were both dressed in military type clothing.

"What are you doing here?" the woman asked.

"Uhh…" Percy started but nothing else came. Raph winced slightly and he hoped he wouldn't have to get into a fight already.

"Ma'am we're just-"

"Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be ejected immediately and with extreme prejudice," the man snapped, making the whole group flinch. Still though he seemed…odd. One of his eyes were brown and the other was blue and he seemed like he was trying to act a part. Then Thalia stepped forward and snapped her fingers, wind rippling from it.

"We are not visitors, sir. We go to school here. I'm Thalia, and this is Annabeth, Percy, Raphael and Sapphire. We're all in the eighth and seventh grade," Thalia said. The male teacher didn't seem to buy whatever she was trying. But the female teacher seemed to go into some kind of trance.

"Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?" he asked. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Raph found that name very amusing.

"Yes, what are you all doing away from the gym?" she asked. Suddenly hurried footsteps were heard and then Raph saw Grover running over, panting.

"There you guys are! Finally I-Oh, Ms. Gottschalk, Dr. Thorn!" Grover exclaimed.

"Mr. Underwood. What do you mean finally?" Dr. Thorn pressed. Raph didn't particularly like the guy, he felt like something bad was about to happen and that this guy was going to be part of it.

"They were on the dance floor earlier but they disappeared. I was looking for them," Grover covered. Dr. Thorn didn't look to pleased and he groaned softly before speaking

"Do not leave the gym again!" he barked. Raph and the others got out of there fast. He hoped the demigod Grover found would be worth the trouble.

"Hey, Thalia, how did you do that back there?" Percy asked. Raph was actually curious as well. Thalia gave him a rather confident smirk and told Percy "I used the mist. Chiron didn't show you how to do that?"

Raph winced slightly at that comment. He knew that Thalia was probably just teasing Percy for…whatever he did. Someone was always mad at Percy for doing something and he meant ALWAYS. Still though that comment did sound a bit pompous even for Thalia.

They moved to the gym quickly and the music got louder. Raph never considered himself a dancing person and he doubted that he ever would. Grover pulled them into the gym and then the music blasted at them with no boundaries. Thankfully it wasn't as loud as Raph thought it would be.

"Thank the gods you guys made it safely. That was really close," he said. Annabeth and Thalia both hugged him and Percy high-fived him. Raph and Sapphire had a bit of an awkward greeting with the guy since they didn't exactly know him very well. He left the day after they got to camp.

"So what's the emergency?" Percy asked, completely ignoring the awkward moment or not noticing it at all.

"I found two," Grover replied.

"Two half-bloods? Here?" Thalia asked. Raph and Annabeth shared a look before turning back to the conversation. Raph wasn't completely sure since he was still new but from what he could tell, finding a demigod was hard but finding more than one in the same area was apparently like finding a diamond under a rock.

"A brother and a sister. They're ten and twelve. I don't know who their parent is but they smell very strong. There is a monster here, but he is actually intelligent. Unlike most, he patiently waits and stalks his prey until he is completely sure." Grover summarized.

"Are they here at the dance?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes," Grover replied.

"Is the monster Dr. Thorn?" Raph asked, hoping he was wrong. Grover looked at him surprised for a moment and Raph sighed in annoyance at himself for being right.

"Yes, how'd you guess that, Raphael?" Grover asked. Everyone actually seemed a bit unsurprised except for Percy and Grover.

"I was kind of hoping I was wrong but I guess because of how his face looked and he seemed like he was trying to play a part in some play," Raph said honestly. Annabeth looked impressed and he blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"Well anyway I need help! I need to figure out how to get them away without Thorn noticing," Grover said sharply.

"So whoa are they?" Sapphire asked. Grover looked around and then he led them into the gym. They moved until they were behind a large group of partying kids until he pointed at two children sitting on the bleachers.

"They are Bianca and Nico di Angelo," Grover said.

The older one was a girl. She wore a green hat that shaded her face but not very well. The other one was a boy and he was obviously her little brother; he was messing around with some kind of cards. They both had olive skin, dark brown eyes and dark black hair. Something felt…odd about those two though, something that Raph couldn't put his finger on. The girl looked around her shoulders as if she was aware she was being watched.

"Do they know?" Annabeth asked.

"No. If they did, Thorn would've killed them already," Grover replied.

"So let's grab them and get out," Percy said.

"Well that's certainly one plan…" Raph commented. Sapphire giggled at his comment and then Percy glared at them.

"Look, we have trouble," Thalia said as she nodded towards the other sets of bleachers. Dr. Thorn was there and he seemed to be staring right at them.

"Don't look at the kids! We have to throw him off the scent. There's more than three of us so it should throw him off," Thalia ordered quickly.

"How?" Annabeth asked.

"We dance," she said.

"Dance?" Raph and the others asked, perplexed. Thalia nodded and then her face contorted in disgust.

"Who chose the Jesse McCartney?" she asked.

"I did," Grover said a little bit offended.

"Oh my god, you couldn't have picked Green Day or something else?" Thalia asked, exasperated. Raph rolled his eyes and the conversation.

"Green who?" the goat boy asked.

"Never mind," Thalia sighed and grabbed Grover's hand.

"Dance and Sapphire be ready to heal my shins when Grover kicks them in," she said again before she pulled the flustered and stuttering Grover away. They all laughed at that as Thalia dragged a rather unwilling Grover off to dance.

"Well come on then," Sapphire said expectantly. Raph felt her grab his hand quickly and he blushed badly. Annabeth gave him a small smile and nodded her head as if saying good luck as she turned to a thick seaweed brain that they knew as Percy.

"Come on," Sapphire said as she tugged him off to a different area. Raph didn't put up any resistance and followed her until she stopped. She turned around to face him and she batted her eyelashes at him, making him blush.

"Well?" she asked. Raph sighed since he knew what she was expecting. He gave her a small bow and she gave a small sequel of delight as he offered her his hand. She took his hand and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and somehow he found his hands on her waist. They began moving in some kind of motion that Raph hoped looked like dancing.

"So Raphael?" Sapphire asked after a few moments. Raph looked into her eyes and he could have gotten lost in them. She was so close and all he had to do was lean down and he could feel her lips.

"Yes?" he asked.

"What were you going to tell me when those hellhounds almost killed us?" she asked. Raph stared at her but she was serious and…anxious. Was she trying to give him some kind of signal? Whatever the case he didn't think he could refuse.

"I was going to sa-" at that moment, Annabeth, Grover and Thalia ruined their moment…again.

"Guys! The kids are gone!" Thalia practically yelled frantically. Raph was too shocked to be angry and he quickly turned to see that the kids were indeed gone and in their place was a green hat and a few cards. Raph cursed under his breath, he was too focused on Sapphire to realize that he was supposed to be doing a job. However, that's when another thing hit him.

"Where's Percy?" he asked. Thalia looked shocked and she turned around and then she let out an angry yell and stomped the ground.

"He was right there!" Annabeth growled softly in annoyance.

"That Seaweed Brain can really be a nuisance sometimes!" she exclaimed. Raph wanted to wipe his hand over his face but it wasn't the time to ponder on Percy's stupid actions. They had to move quickly or they'd risk losing all three of them.

"Ah! He's behind the school, we have to hurry, and he needs help!" Grover exclaimed. Raph wanted to ask how he knew that but he didn't have time to ask.

"Come on then, why are we still standing here?" Sapphire pressed. They all quickly ran out of the gym rather abruptly as they got outside of the school. They saw Percy and the di Angelos being pushed towards a cliff by a four legged spike mane monster with a scorpion tail. It took Raph a moment to realize that was Thorn.

"A Manticore…Ok, I'll use my cap and turn invisible. I'll surprise him and when that happens, you guys attack," Annabeth said as she pulled out her cap. Thalia drew her menacing shield, Aegis and her spear.

Raph clicked his necklace and his long greek sword appeared in his hand. He named it Luna Fang since the blade was white like the moon and it's special ability struck like a fang.

Sapphire pulled a hairpin out of her hair and she squeezed it and suddenly a beautiful silver bow appeared in her hand and then a quiver full of arrows appeared slung over her right shoulder. It was a gift from her father, Apollo, almost like it was a gift for making her get beaten numerous times in those training matches they had. She was a very excellent marksman and she was quick enough to use a knife if she had to but she preferred to leave that kind of fighting to Raph and the others or so she said.

"I'll go from the right, you go straight down the middle," Raph said to Thalia since they were the ones charging in. Thalia nodded without a complaint. Raph prepared himself and then he felt a hand on his arm. He turned to see Sapphire looking at him worriedly.

"Be careful…" she said softly. Raph nodded and they didn't speak again. Little did Raph know that would be the last time he'd talk to her for a time…

"Ok I'm going…" Annabeth said as she pulled her cap on. She was gone in an instant and then they all waited. Then they overheard Thorn talking about something but Raph couldn't make out the whole thing.

"Soon we shall have the most important monster of all-the one who shall bring forth the downfall of Olympus!" Thorn shouted.

"What's he saying?" Grover asked.

"I have no idea," Thalia responded. Before they could talk more, an invisible force slammed into Pery and the di Angelos, knocking them onto the ground but more importantly, away from the monster. Raph and Thalia nodded to each other and then they charged.

Raph broke off to the right, trying to get on Thron's right flank and he spared a glace and Thalia for a second to see her sprinting towards Thorn at full speed. Confident that they could overcome this monster, he ran a bit faster and leveled his sword.

"For Zeus!" Raph heard Thalia shout followed by a loud crack of thunder, he saw a bolt of lightning hit Thorn's back and he turned around to glare at them. He swung his tail in their direction, sending those spikes of his at them as projectiles. Raph's training and reflexes kicked in and he started deflecting the spikes with his sword. He dove to the side as another wave of them were fired at him though that was a mistake because he gave Thalia an opening. She charged him, forcing him to turn his attention to her but that was a mistake as well since he gave Raph an opening.

"Take this!" Raph shouted as his sword started glowing. Then he swung the sword and sent an arc shaped energy wave at the monster. Thorn seemed surprised by the wave and it hit him directly. He didn't disintegrate but he would soon enough as Thalia closed in, followed by Raph even though he was a little tired from using that arc wave attack. Thorn tried to attack them but suddenly an arrow found it's way in his shoulder, making him stumble.

"Die!" Thalia shouted but before anything could happen a helicopter flew in practically out of nowhere. Raph had to cover his eyes but he had the sense to dive onto the ground. He felt something whip over his head and he thought it was Thorn's tail. He heard Thalia grunt; she was probably hit. He heard something shatter and he looked up to see the light on the helicopter had been shattered by and arrow. He silently thanked Sapphire but before anything else happened a loud horn ripped through the air.

Raph turned to the woods and saw a group of girls around his age or a little older emerge from the forest. They were all dressed normally but they all wore silver parkas and they held bows with arrows notched. He saw one of the older archers step up and hold her hand up.

"Oh great…the hunters…" Raph heard Thalia mutter somewhere. Raph had jumped onto his feet during the confusion and backed away from Thorn. Unfortunately he wasn't interested in him. He was going after Thalia. Percy got in the way and protected her from his spikes but he was still running right at them.

"Great…" he thought. He ran right at Thorn, hoping to try and save his new friends. Thorn wasn't looking at him and that was perfect. Raph jumped onto his back and grabbed hold of something to make sure he wouldn't be shaken off. He heard a soft grunt next to him and he saw that Annabeth had made the same call, apparently her hat came off in the confusion. She seemed about as surprised to see him, as he was to see her. Except neither of them told the other to get off. They just nodded to each other and stabbed their respective weapons into the Manticore.

Thorn screamed out in pain from the blows. He tried to shake them off but Raph wouldn't let go and tried to stab him deeper. He saw Annabeth had not fallen either and she was trying to repeatedly stab the Manticore. Raph was so caught up in the fight that he didn't realize that Thorn was moving towards the cliff he was going to push Percy off of.

Suddenly several arrows struck the Manticore, none of them hit them but they didn't have to. Suddenly Thorn tipped over and it was at that moment that Raph realized they were falling off a cliff into the ocean! Annabeth had realized as well and they tried to get off before it was too late but it was already too late when the realized it. They fell but Annabeth grabbed Raph's hand as they fell and he squeezed her hand back so they wouldn't get separated when they hit the water. But when they should have hit the water, they didn't hit it…


	3. Sexist Hunters and a Reunion

I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians or Heroes of Olympus

Hey guys! Well this story may be updated faster than my other ones simply because I am not making most of these chapters from scratch exactly. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 2: Sexist Hunters and a Reunion

Sapphire's POV

"Raph!" Sapphire shrieked in despair as she charged at the cliff. She would have jumped off the cliff if the girls that came from the forest hadn't tackled her down. She struggled to get up but the girls held her down with little remorse. She looked to her right to see that Percy was in a similar position.

"Get off! I have to go help my friends!" she yelled at the offenders but they did not yield.

"It would do you no good to throw yourselves off of cliffs," a voice said. Suddenly Sapphire felt herself get pulled up until she was looking at a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and silver eyes.

"Just let us go so we can go look for them!" Percy yelled. Sapphire struggled against her holders but they tightened their grip.

"Yeah let go!" Sapphire continued to struggle despite the pain it was causing her arms. She refused to sit there while her closest friend might be freezing in the ocean.

"Let us go look for them!" Sapphire heard Thalia plead.

"Your friends are not in the water. Tell them son of Poseidon. I know you can sense what's down there," the auburn haired girl said. Sapphire turned to Percy who had grown quiet and then his head dropped slightly.

"Percy?" Sapphire asked.

"I…I don't sense them down there at all…" Percy said sadly. Sapphire felt tears start falling from her eyes at the news.

"It is likely that your friends have been captured by Kronos's forces. There is nothing you can do for them now," the girl said. Sapphire glared at her through tear-clouded eyes; how dare she talk about her friends like that.

"Who do you think you are?" she asked. One of the girls behind her, the one with the coppery skin stepped forward as if to threaten her but the other girl stopped her.

"Do not blame them Zoe. They do not understand. Demigods, I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and these are my hunters," Artemis spoke. Sapphire's eyes widened when she heard that little piece of information. Thankfully her captors finally released her so she could stand. She was still tempted to jump off the cliff but she knew that they weren't down there now.

"Artemis?" Sapphire asked. The goddess actually smiled at her for a moment before Grover interrupted them.

"Thank, Lady Artemis! You're just…wow!" Grover stuttered. Sapphire thought he was crazy, that lady just sent their friends off a cliff and now they were captives for the enemy.

She knew enough to know that Kronos was trying to return but he needed demigods to do it. She worried about Raph more than Annabeth. She knew Annabeth would never succumb but Raph was a different story. His loyalty to the gods was shaky at best. Plus with Annabeth in danger along with him, she didn't know how he would react.

"Shut up Goat Boy!" Thalia snapped, Sapphire was thinking the same thing.

"If you haven't noticed there are more important things going on besides your little crush on the Goddess. For instance…Ann-Annabeth and Raphael are missing!" Thalia's voice actually cracked, which Sapphire never thought she'd hear. Then again she remembered them saying that Annabeth and Thalia had been friends for a very long time. She felt the same way about Raphael just that she felt even deeper than that. She really wished that he could have told her what he was going to say during their dance…it was driving her crazy thinking about it!

"Wait! Hold up! What's going on here!? Who are you people?" Bianca di Angelo shouted, halting everything. Everyone glanced at her and Sapphire mentally kicked herself for forgetting about them. They were new after all, she could relate to that since she'd only known about her heritage for less than two weeks. She saw Thalia looked about ready to blow though.

"My dear girl. It might be more fitting to ask who you are," Artemis asked softly. Sapphire backed away from the goddess until she was next to her friends, it felt so weird to stand so close to a goddess.

"Our parents are dead…we're orphans. There's a lawyer and a bank trust who pays for out school and…" Sapphire had to admit that even she couldn't exactly believe it, everyone else seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"I'm telling the truth!" she shouted. The girl that was going to hit her before stepped forward, Sapphire remembered her name was Zoe.

"No, one of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olmpian, you are a half-blood," she said. Sapphire wanted to laugh since she wasn't speaking modern English.

"Olympian…athlete?" Bianca asked. Sapphire felt bad for her since she was apparently going to take the news rather poorly.

"No, one of the gods," Zoe replied.

"Cool! Bianca, can you believe it! My Mythomagic card game is real!" Nico di Angelo exclaimed. Sapphire couldn't help but smile at the boy, he actually reminded her of Raph's little brother. Oh gods how was she going to tell his family that he was missing!? They were supposed to check in with their family's yesterday but they forgot since they were in such a hurry to pack for the mission!

"No! Not cool Nico!" Bianca snapped. Nico didn't listen though and continued talking about his card game. Sapphire didn't really understand what he was saying though. Something about battle points or was that hit points?

"Nico quiet! This isn't your stupid game. There are no gods!" Bianca snapped, her face blushing in embarrassment. Sapphire felt bad for her since she was reacting more disbelievingly than she did.

"Bianca, I know it's hard to believe, but trust me, the gods are around and they're very real. Whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us are born and well…Our lives are as dangerous as they can get," Thalia said softly. Sapphire didn't know how true those words were until Raph and Annabeth fell off the cliff.

"Dangerous…" Bianca said softly. "Like the boy and the girl who fell?" she asked. Sapphire winced painfully at the reminder that their friends were gone. She was worried about Annabeth too, she had been kinder to them than most of the other kids they met in their entire lives, plus she was a good influence on Raph. As she looked around at her friends they seemed to be feeling their lose as much as she was

"Do not despair for Annabeth. She was a brave maiden. If she can be found, I shal find her," Artemis said. Now that was nice to hear but she didn't say anything about Raph.

"What about Raph?" Sapphire asked. Artemis frowned at that and she placed her hand on her chin.

"Who?" she asked. Sapphire felt her anger rise at that. She looked at Thalia and Percy and saw that they were a bit angry as well.

"I think she's talking about the boy who fell off with the maiden," Zoe said. Sapphire really felt her anger start boiling over.

"The boy has a name. His name is Raphael!" Sapphire seethed. Zoe gave her a unimpressed look.

"I thought thy friend's name was Raph?" she asked. Sapphire glared at her.

"His full name is Raphael. Only I can use his nickname," Sapphire said.

"If the boy is alive I will bring him back but that is unlikely," Artemis said. Sapphire instantly disliked the goddess and her whole group of hunters. She didn't like how she just referred to Raph as a boy.

"What about Dr. Thorn? Is he dead?" Nico asked.

"He was a manticore. Hopefully he is gone but monsters are never really dead. They come back over the course of a specific time. But I do not know if he is dead," Artemis replied.

"I told you that bus driver had ram horns," Nico exclaimed.

"And those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in DC last summer!" Bianca shivered.

"Exactly, that's why Grover has been watching you. He's been trying to keep you safe until he could get you guys out," Percy explained.

"You're a demigod, Grover?" Bianca asked.

"Actually, I'm a satyr," he kicked off his shoes and revealed his goat hooves. Bianca looked like she was ready to freak.

"Put your shoes back on idiot!" Thalia snapped. Grover muttered something about hooves before Percy spoke again.

"Bianca. We came to help you. We came to bring you to camp so we can train you how to survive. Thorn won't be the last monster you meet," Percy said.

"Camp?" she asked.

"Camp Half-Blood," Percy said fondly. "It's where people like us go to learn how to survive and stuff. You can join us and stay there year-round if you like."

"Sweet! Let's go!" Nico exclaimed.

"Wait Nico I don't know…" don't know what? Is what Sapphire was thinking. She felt a bit annoyed that Raph and Annabeth were taken from them and now they had to deal with this.

"There is another option, for you and Sapphire," Zoe said. Sapphire glared at her, already having an idea. No way was she leaving Raph behind for some stupid all girls club. She knew that Raph would have hated them and she hated them too.

"I would like to speak with you Bianca and you as well Sapphire. Hunters set up camp," Artemis said. Sapphire wanted to refuse but she sighed and nodded.

"What about me?" Nico asked.

"Grover? Can you please entertain Nico for me…as a favor?" Artemis asked distastefully. Grover perked up and immediately led the little boy away. Sapphire wanted to scoff. Suddenly Thalia grabbed her arm.

"Be careful Sapphire…don't agree to anything they say no matter what," Thalia suddenly told her.

"Yeah, I agree with her. I don't trust these girls," Percy added. Thalia glared at him and barked "You agree with me? Did you forget that you're the reason Annabeth and Raph- I mean Raphael are missing?"

Percy's face dropped and he sighed. He picked something off the ground and Sapphire realized it was Annabeth's Yankee cap.

"It's not his fault. Raph made his choice, he was trying to help you guys and Annabeth was too. And Thalia, I think he would be ok if you called him by his nickname. You too Percy," Sapphire said softly. Thalia gave her a small smile of thanks and Percy gave her a small nod before she turned around to see Zoe looking at her distastefully. She glared at her and the huntress turned her gaze.

"Well? What do you want to talk about?" she asked the goddess. She saw Bianca was already waiting as well.

"Come, we shall talk in my tent," Artemis said as she led them into the camp that was suddenly there already? Sapphire turned around for a minute!

"Ok," Bianca said stiffly. They both followed the goddess and her lieutenant, Zoe into the camp. Some of the hunters were staring at them but Sapphire paid them no attention. She turned to her right to see Bianca staring at her a bit intently.

"Yes?" she asked softly with a smile. Bianca jumped slightly and she blushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry…it's just that you seem so…cheerful despite everything," Bianca said. Sapphire giggled slightly at the comment.

"I wouldn't say…" she replied softly. She hugged the leather jacket around her closer and she sighed softly since the jacket was Raph's. She really hoped that he and Annabeth were ok.

"I'm telling you now that I don't feel particularly cheerful knowing that two of my friends are in trouble," Sapphire said softly. Everyone thought that she was the super cheerful and sweet girl that everyone loved. Yet at the same time she was also a bit like Raph in a way. She may not be as bad as Raph but she still felt a bit bitter at the world for not accepting her or Raph.

"I'm sure your friends are ok. They seemed very brave," Bianca offered shyly. Sapphire smiled at her in thanks and nodded. She was going to say something else but she was cut off when they already arrived at Artemis's tent.

"Come," the goddess commanded. They entered the tent to see that it was actually a bit bigger on the inside than the outside. It was also rather cozy and…littered with death. The death part came from all the pelts from slain monsters that decorated the room. There was even a fire pit with a lit fire in the middle of the tent.

"Now then…I wish to hear the story of what happened," Artemis said as she sat down cross-legged on the floor. Zoe went off to the corner of the tent and Sapphire could swear she was glaring at her, which was ok since she didn't like her either.

"Bianca?" Artemis asked. Sapphire and Bianca sat down in front of the goddess and Bianca told her what happened. Sapphire was still a bit unnerved by the fact that the goddess in front of her looked younger than she did. Bianca's story mirrored what she would have said minus the fact that she knew about Thorn and everything else.

"Hm…that is most troubling…you said the general said something about a monster?" Artemis asked. Sapphire perked up at this. Percy was the only one who was close enough to Thorn to really hear him but she thought she heard something about a monster as well.

"Yes…I'm not sure what exactly he was talking about but I think he said something like that…" Bianca said nervously. The poor girl looked so distressed that she might have fainted.

"I see…Zoe. Go fetch the one called Percy Jackson please," Artemis, ordered but the way she said Percy's name sounded like she was insulting him. Zoe left the tent without a word leaving them with the goddess.

"Now then. As Zoe said there is another option for you Bianca and you may accept as well if you wish Sapphire. I offer you two a place in my hunters," Artemis said. Sapphire wanted to scoff since she had no intention of going into a group where no boy were aloud, especially when the boy she liked was in trouble.

"What?" Bianca asked. Artemis nodded and continued on. "You would become immortal, though you could still fall in battle. You would be free of responsibility and you would be a part of a family that appreciates you,"

Sapphire had to admit that the offer was tempting. She was offering them a place where they could be content and not have to worry about mortal problems anymore. Still though, Artemis didn't point out that they would have to abandon their past lives completely. She thought of her friends and her mother back in California and her friends at Camp Half-Blood. But the one that struck home was Raphael. She couldn't leave any of them behind. She shuddered at the thought of how many of the hunters there had willingly abandoned their families and their lives.

"Milady I have brought thee Perseus as you requested," sure enough Zoe's old English voice broke the silence. Percy followed her in and he awkwardly sat next to Sapphire. She wondered how the hunters had stared at him as he walked through the camp.

"Ah…yes. Hello Perseus, I assume from your odd look, you are surprised by my age?" Artemis pointed out right away. Sapphire thought that was creepy since Percy had only been in the tent for less than a minute.

"I uh…" Percy's typical response came out and Sapphire almost laughed again.

"I appear this age because it is the minimum age of all my hunters before they become…lost," Artemis said.

"Lost?" Percy asked.

"Lose themselves in the world, become smitten with boys. Growing up," Artemis said. Sapphire winced softly.

"So...why am I here?" Percy asked.

"I wish to hear the story of what happened from you since you were not clouded by the thought that you were mortal," Artemis said. Percy told the goddess his story and it was basically the version Sapphire would have said but with Percy's trademark words. Then they got to the monster part.

"He said that soon the monster that could end all of Olympus would be born and that Olympus would crumble from it. I don't know what it is though," Percy said. Artemis seemed deep in thought after that.

"That is…troubling. I have heard of and hunted many monsters in my time but I can't say I know of any who could end Olympus besides Typhon but he is still asleep," Artemis said.

"So what are we going to do?" Sapphire asked.

"You are going back to camp with my hunters," Artemis said. Zoe's eyes went bug eyed when she said that.

"My lady?!" she asked. Artemis held her hand up to silence her.

"I will hunt for this monster alone. Until then you shall take my hunters to camp where you'll be safe," Artemis said strictly. Zoe nodded grudgingly and sighed.

"Now then, before we send you back to camp, I would like an answer from you two," Artemis said. Sapphire held her hand up as if saying no thanks.

"I'm sorry but you guys aren't what I want," she said simply. Zoe seemed to react rather aggressively to that statement.

"You think too highly of thy boy, he is surely dead," she seethed as if boys were the worst things on the earth.

"His name is Raphael and you will at least give him the respect of remembering his name! And he is not dead!" Sapphire snapped back angrily. She despised people who played Raph down like he was second rate.

"He will fail you like all other boys in this world!" Zoe snapped back. Sapphire almost pulled her knife out but Artemis intervened.

"Enough! Sapphire does not wish to join the hunt; we cannot blame her for that. Now Bianca, what about you?" Artemis asked.

"Wait, join the hunt? No, Bianca you can't do that! You have to come to camp with Nico," Percy objected.

"It is her choice boy," Zoe snapped. Percy looked stunned and then his sea green eyes darkened slightly. Sapphire thought that he was going to actually explode at the hunter but he seemed to reel himself back in.

"What would I be able to do besides what you already told me?" Bianca asked softly. Sapphire's eyes widened, she was actually thinking about accepting?! What about her brother? She would willingly leave him behind?

"You would become a skilled hunter and once again you would not have to worry about mortal responsibilities or fitting in. You would be in a family where you will be appreciated and protected. You would not have to worry about growing old as well," Artemis said, she was almost smirking like she knew she got her. Sapphire growled softly, Annabeth and Raph didn't get themselves captured just to let Bianca join a all girls group and leave them high and dry.

"Raph and Annabeth didn't sacrifice themselves for you to just spit on their actions," Sapphire pleaded. She didn't want her friends' sacrifice to be in vain.

"What do I have to do to join?" Bianca asked. Sapphire sighed sadly Artemis had won Bianca over. Percy looked rather depressed as well. It wasn't fair that they were losing Bianca to a boy-hating group when one of the people who sacrificed themselves for her was a boy.

"Say I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt," Zoe said.

"I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt," Bianca recited. The fire in the tent seemed to flare and Bianca suddenly got this slight glow for a moment.

"Welcome Sister," Zoe said softly. Sapphire was entirely fed up with the hunters and Artemis. She knew that boys tended to be the bigger troublemakers but still. They spit on what Annabeth and Raph did and they were disrespecting Raph's action just because he was a boy. It made her sick to her stomach just thinking about it.

"Do not fret, you may still bring Nico to your camp. That is all boy can do I'm afraid. Bianca will still be able to accompany you to your camp as well," Artemis said like she did nothing wrong.

"So how are we getting there?" Percy asked miserably.

"Simple. Sapphire here is going to meet her father," Artemis said. Sapphire's eyes widened at the thought. She was going to see her father?

"Apollo?" Percy asked.

"Yes, Bianca is not the only one with a annoying little brother," Artemis said. She sent them all out after that. Bianca caught their attention before they went their separate ways.

"I'm sorry guys…I don't think any less of your friends or what they did to me but I want this…" she said softly.

"Tell that to Nico…" Sapphire said harshly. Bianca flinched but she nodded, accepting that they were mad. She went off towards Nico to try and break the news to him. Sapphire felt extremely bad for Nico since his sister was basically abandoning him.

"Hey guys how did it go?" Thalia asked, coming over to them with Grover. Percy told her about what happened and Thalia seemed angry but she didn't say anything.

"We're waiting for Apollo," Percy said.

"Isn't Apollo your dad?" Thalia asked Sapphire. Sapphire nodded but she didn't say anything. She didn't know how to act really. The only thing she knew about her father were the things her mother told her about. She said that he was charming, a nice guy, and talented even if a bit silly as well.

"So we just wait here then?" Grover asked. As if to answer their call a flash suddenly burst from the skies like a shooting star. The sky was lightning up as well.

"Finally. He's so lazy during the winter," Sapphire almost jumped. Somehow Artemis was right next to her.

"You're waiting for sunrise?" Percy asked.

"For my brother, yes," Artemis answered. All the knowledge she heard from her science classes was screaming illogical in Sapphire's head but she shook it off.

"Look away," Artemis warned. Sapphire didn't need to be told twice. She shielded her eyes and turned away as the fireball came closer and then she heard a loud crash followed by the sound of steam. She felt the heat lessen but it was still there. She turned to where the fireball landed and there sitting on a pile of defrosted grass was a red convertible Maserati Spyder. It was glowing red with heat.

The driver got out of the car. Sapphire's eyes widened from seeing her father for the first time. He had sandy hair and blue eyes, and he had a bright playful smile on his face, she could understand how her mother was attracted to him. Her father was also dressed in simple jeans, loafers and a sleeveless t-shirt.

"Wow…Apollo is hot," Thalia muttered.

"He is the sun god," Percy said.

"That's not what I meant," she replied.

"Little sister! What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried," Apollo said cheerfully. Sapphire tilted her head a bit, she was a little hurt that her father didn't notice her first but she remembered that he was a god and she wasn't the first of his demigod children and she wouldn't be the last.

Artemis sighed. "I'm fine Apollo. And I'm not our little sister!"

"Hey, I was born first." Apollo countered.

"We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue-"

"So what's up?" Apollo interrupted. "Got the girls with you I see. By the way, Athena told me to tell her son something for him, where is he? His name is Raphael," Apollo called. Sapphire thought it was some kind of sick joke. Raph wanted to be acknowledged by his mother or at least get some form of it. Now here it was but he wasn't even there.

"He's…not here right now…" Sapphire spoke up. It was at that moment that Apollo's eyes connected with Sapphire's. All that obnoxious cheerfulness and banter seemed to leave his eyes for a time. His abrupt stop even seemed to surprise Artemis, who followed his gaze.

"Ah…yes. She's one of yours isn't she?" Artemis asked. Apollo stared at Sapphire for a few more minutes until he spoke.

"You look a lot like your mother," Apollo commented as he stepped closer to Sapphire. Sapphire blushed slightly at the compliment. Their first meeting and he was already complimenting her.

"I…she misses you…a lot," that was all Sapphire could say. Her mother was the beautiful girl and woman that everyone wanted. She was smart, willful, determined. Sapphire always wondered what she saw in her father. She was always distraught when she talked about him. Apollo actually looked a little sad from her words.

"I see…" was all he said. There was an awkward silence that followed before he turned back to Artemis.

"So! Um what can I do for you?" he asked, his past voice dropped. Artemis seemed to have calmed down as well and she spoke softly.

"I need you to take these demigods to Camp Half-Blood," she said. Apollo nodded and pulled his keys out before he clicked one of the buttons. Then his car transformed into some kind of school bus.

"All aboard!" he said cheerfully before he looked at Sapphire again. It was going to be an awkward ride she could tell.


	4. Imprisonment and a Bond Forged

I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians or Heroes of Olympus

Ok guys the plan is that I am going to try and get through Titan's Curse before I get back to my other stories. Also chapters may or may not switch POV's from now on. Originally I was going to make this chapter part of something else but I feel like it turned out so well that it deserves to be by itself. Also it's just hit me that this is the first story I've put on Fanfiction that's not rated M and its not going to be.

Chapter 3: Imprisonment and a Bond Forged

Raphael's POV

Raph didn't know what was worse. The fact that he and Annabeth had tumbled off a cliff with a monster on top of them or the fact that they were now in enemy territory, deep enemy territory. The kind including being captured and imprisoned. They didn't hit the water; in fact they actually went through some kind of portal. They landed right in the middle of a monster-infested area, where they were easily overwhelmed and taken captive. Raph did not feel very lucky at the time.

Raph and Annabeth were being marched down a hallway with their hands bound behind their backs. Two menacing monsters he recognized as Empousas were pushing them down the way. He looked to his right to see Annabeth looking at him too. They shared a silent conversation. Raph didn't know how they did it but for some reason he could just tell what she was trying to tell him.

"So how do you think we can get out of this?" she asked. Raph shrugged slightly before replying.

"Well if I could get my hands free I could try to fight our guards off but then we'd have an army between us and freedom," Raph replied jokingly. Annabeth gave him a small smile, she was amused too. Raph found himself growing very fond of Annabeth. It was nice not having to be the older sibling for once.

"Where are we anyway?" he asked. Annabeth shrugged her shoulders in response.

"We are children of Athena. We'll figure some way out of this," Annabeth said with a confident look. At that point they were both pushed into out of the hall they were in. They were outside now, surprisingly. The sky was grey and gloomy, a lot like Raph's eyes actually. They were forced down the path in front of them again. Raph took note of the large mountain like structure that towered over them. It looked like it was some kind of broken building to be honest. It wasn't a very pretty site.

"Mount Othrys…" he heard Annabeth whisper. Raph's eyes widened as he looked at the structure. The scary part was that he could see it now. It was a dark mountain and if he looked closely it looked like it was repairing itself…like it was a living being. Raph shuddered slightly at the thought.

"Keep moving!" one of their guards hissed at them. Raph really wanted to cut her head off but he couldn't do anything. He finally looked ahead of them too see what looked some kind of altar except it was giant. He saw what looked like some kind of throne elevated in front of the altar but then something else caught his attention. There was a large object in the sky that was obscured by the clouds but it must've been massive. Then Raph looked under the object and to his horror he saw a single person who was holding the object up!

"Ah! Finally our guests have arrived!" a loud voice bellowed. The voice felt like it was making the ground shake and Raph grit his teeth. They were both pushed onto their knees when they reached the alter much to Raph's annoyance and he saw the same feeling reflected in Annabeth's eyes.

They both turned to the throne and saw a very large man sitting upon it; he was easily four times Raph or Annabeth's size in mass and height even while sitting. He was dressed in a brown business suit and his face held a very regal look. He had jet-black hair that was slicked back and his eyes were black and hard like they were made of stone.

"Who are you?" Raph asked. The large man laughed but it was the type of laugh that sent chills down your spine along with rocking your spine with the sheer volume.

"I believe you two already know who I am. You are both children of Athena after all," the man bellowed. Raph looked at the giant object for a moment before it clicked. He looked at Annabeth who shared the same look of fear and shock.

"Atlas…" Annabeth muttered. "General of the Titans…punished to hold the sky up for all eternity," Atlas laughed at that, making Raph cringe again.

"Very good! But you were wrong about the eternity part. It shall be the gods who carry the burden of the sky for all eternity!" Atlas swore.

"So why are we here?" Raph asked. Atlas might not be allowed to kill them himself but he could easily order his monsters to do it. So why was he keeping them alive?

"Simple…you will swear allegiance to our cause…" Atlas looked to his right and there sitting on the ground next to his throne was a gold coffin. Despite it being a coffin Raph thought it was actually very well decorated. There were engravings and pictures carved into it. Raph wasn't completely sure what was going on. Percy and the others hadn't yet informed him of what the titans were doing. All they really told him was that Kronos was trying to return so he could wreck havoc and destruction on the world.

"That coffin…" Raph thought. He felt a sudden surge and he felt a dark chill like someone was whispering in his ear. All other noise had suddenly become dull; he shuddered slightly as the voice started to become clearer.

"Raphael!" Annabeth shouted. Raph shook out of the state he was going into and he looked at his half-sister. She looked relieved and she sighed softly.

"Don't listen to that thing. Kronos is trying to get into your head," she warned. Raph looked at the coffin again and he shuddered slightly again, this time from fear. The pressure felt suffocating, he never expected the fear to hit him like that. He was always confident that he would have the courage to face down whatever came at him as a demigod. He had faced down bullies as a child and monsters recently. But now that he was near their true enemies he was scarred and he didn't know how to get around it.

"Listen to me Raphael. We will get through this, together. We're both children of Athena we can do this," Raph turned to his half-no…his sister and he suddenly felt his courage returning. Annabeth looked as scarred as he felt. That was actually comforting in a way and it gave him a reason to be strong and he was probably sure she felt the same. He steeled his resolve and he nodded.

"Of course…and…call me Raph," he whispered so only she could hear him. She looked a bit surprised but she smiled ever so slightly and then they both turned to Atlas.

"Never," they both said. Atlas looked a bit bored like he expected them to say that.

"Typical…but what if I give you a reason to reconsider?" Atlas asked. He pointed at where the object was, his burden. Raph was too preoccupied to give it too much attention with the titan in front of him but at that point he did remember what he was thinking, how did the titan free himself from his burden? Annabeth gave his answer.

"Luke!" she shrieked. Raph knew that name. He remembered Percy saying that he was actually a traitor and that he had actually known Thalia and Annabeth for quite some time actually. Other than that he knew nothing about him. Apparently Luke was the one holding up the sky. He focused in on the person holding the sky until he could make him out. He saw a boy who was older than him by quite a few years with sandy hair and blue eyes. Luke was definitely what a lot of girls would call attractive but he seemed a bit distressed at the time. He was sweating and panting as he held the sky up, he looked like he was in a real struggle.

"You could help him…" Atlas added darkly. Suddenly Raph felt his bonds get cut and he saw their other guard cut Annabeth's bonds as well. Raph was about to pull his sword out and start hacking monsters down but Annabeth sprinted towards Luke right away.

"Annabeth!" Raph shouted. He glared at the titan but the titan simply smirked at him, curse him. He knew what Annabeth would choose and he knew Raph couldn't let her go alone; it was a ploy, a trick!

"Damn you…" he growled softly before he ran after his sister. He was quick to catch up. He saw her talking to Luke and he hurried up so he could help her if he needed to. He was a little slower when he got under the sky since he was too tall to stand at full height under it.

"Luke…why? Why did you do this?" Annabeth asked softly.

"Help me…Annabeth please…I can't hold it much longer…" Luke pleaded. Raph was close now and he saw Annabeth reach up to hold the sky, much to his horror. Right as she took the weight, Luke fell down, leaving her to hold it up.

"Help me!" Annabeth gasped as she tried to hold the weight up. Luke stayed panting on the ground for a few moments before he smiled at Annabeth.

"Thank you Annabeth, I knew I could count on you…" he breathed softly. Raph growled and drew his sword. Luke turned to him at that point and smiled slightly.

"And who are you? Oh…I see you're a child of Athena. I don't recall you there before I left," he said softly. He looked horrible but he still seemed to have energy. Raph raised his sword but Luke looked right at Annabeth before turning back to him.

"You could kill me right now. I am unarmed and weak but if you kill me then you will be killed yourself. Then your sister will have to shoulder the sky on her own. Do you want that?" he asked. Raph growled in frustration and this, they were playing them and they couldn't refuse. Raph let his sword turn back into his necklace before he ran up to Annabeth who was starting to fall to her knees. He moved quickly until he was right in front of her.

"I'm here," he said comfortingly but she seemed to be in too much pain to hear him as he reached up with his arms to help her hold the sky. The sky was the heaviest thing he had ever held in all his life. His arms immediately started screaming in pain and the rest of his body wasn't far behind. Except his aid had allowed Annabeth to at least rise to her feet. She looked up at him in shock and guilt, finally able to work through the pain.

"I'm sorry, Raph…I'm so sorry…" she apologized. He saw one lone tear fall down her cheek and he shook his head at her.

"Don't worry about it. I'm here for you, Sister," those words felt weird but also comforting to Raph. He was allowing himself to let another person to come closer than arms length. Annabeth seemed a bit surprised by the declaration as well and she actually smiled despite the pain.

"Thank you, Brother," she replied in a caring tone. No more words were said at that point since no more had to be said at the time. They would hold the sky up together as brother and sister and they would strive through it like true children of Athena. Raph felt his necklace grow warm against his chest or maybe that was his body screaming at him in pain but he heard something in his head and Annabeth must have heard it too since her eyes widened.

"Stand strong my children…"


	5. Flags and Prophecies

I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians or Heroes of Olympus

Hey guys, if anyone who's a fan of my Maelstrom is watching this, I promise you that I have not given up on it but my drive is for this story at least for now. On another note I am really considering doing parts in Percy's POV but I am unsure if I can do it correctly.

Sapphire's POV

Chapter 4: Flags and Prophecies

Sapphire was half walking and half stumbling out of the Big House with Percy and Thalia after a terrible meeting with Mr. D. They had just arrived at Camp after a brutal ride in the sky curtsey of her father and Thalia. She was hoping that she'd get to talk to her father but that was all ruined by Thalia's flying, well at least he said goodbye to her. She felt a bit annoyed that everything seemed to be interrupting her or simply not going her way. First it was Raph's confession or at least she hoped it was a confession. Then her crush got thrown off a cliff and was now in the clutches of their enemies and now her bonding time with her father had been cut short. And to top it all off Mr. D had forbidden anyone from looking for Annabeth or Raph.

She was not very happy at all on the inside but she tried to be nice especially since her friends were being affected by the news as well. Percy looked like he had just come from a funeral and Thalia looked like she was barely holding it together. Sapphire felt guilty for only thinking about herself like that.

"Hey guys…I'm really sorry but we'll save Annabeth and Raph somehow…" Sapphire said comfortingly. They both gave her small smiles and they went off to inform the campers that they were going to play capture the flag with the hunters. Sapphire kind of liked that idea so that she could get some payback.

"Of course we will. Annabeth is smart, she'll know how to survive and Raph won't go down without raising hell," Thalia said softly. Sapphire smiled thankfully at Thalia for mentioning Raph as well. While they didn't say it, Mr. D and Chiron seemed to hint that they believed Raph was dead. She could understand why, after all she and Raph were still new. Yet she still found it a bit insulting to Raph either way.

"Yeah and…hey Thalia I'm sorry about what I did back at the school and about mentioning that," Percy said softly. Sapphire wasn't exactly sure what they were talking about. Percy ended up insulting people by accident so many times that Sapphire found it normal for him to be apologizing.

"It's ok Percy. I probably would have done the same thing if I was in your position. And my mom…well I haven't really talked to anyone besides Luke or Annabeth about it. She drank a lot and apparently she got into an accident two years ago…" Thalia said slowly. Sapphire didn't know why she was talking about that with her still around. She felt like she was intruding but Thalia didn't give any signs that she wanted her to leave.

"I'm sorry," Percy offered.

"Me too," Sapphire said. Thalia smiled lightly but it looked forced.

"It's ok…we were never really close anyway. I ran away when I was old enough to look out for myself. The best two years of my life were running around with Annabeth and Luke…" Thalia said sadly. Sapphire frowned and she went over and hugged her friend. Thalia seemed surprised by the move but she didn't push her away. Sapphire pulled away after a few moments and Thalia had a small smile on her face along with an embarrassed blush. She wasn't used to being hugged out of nowhere after all. They were going to talk more but they were interrupted by a fight in progress between a hunter and a son of Ares.

"Ok guys, I'll go break that up and I'll tell everyone what's going on. You can go ahead and rest up," Thalia said. Sapphire wanted to go with her but she already sprinted off. She sighed before looking at Percy.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to make her the Captain?" she asked.

"Well I don't exactly want to do it," Percy replied.

"Aren't you a child of one of the big three?" Sapphire asked. There was no doubt in her mind that even though Thalia was a child of Zeus that Percy was far stronger. Raph believed that too.

"Yeah…but I don't know if I can take pride in that anymore with the prophecy…" Percy muttered.

"What prophecy?" she asked. She knew that they had prophecies but she had never heard one to really know what they were like. Percy's face darkened considerably at that question.

"I wish I knew…" he muttered under his breath before he said something about wanting to be alone. Sapphire sighed as she looked at the camp. It was snowing and she kind of liked how the camp looked with snow everywhere. She knew it was common to New York but she had never seen snow up close since their arrival at Westover. It was December and it would be Christmas in less than two weeks. She smacked herself when she remembered that she had to tell Raph's family that he was missing. Well hopefully they would have forgotten with all the stuff happening-

"Ring Ring…" her cell buzzed making her wince. She was told that having a cell phone was not safe for her but she couldn't get rid of her phone. Her mother had gotten for her birthday last year and while they could easily replace it, she didn't want to. She sighed and pulled her phone out too see her screen lit up with the words Receiving call from Mr. Mitchell. She sighed softly and hit the answer button before holding the phone to her ear.

"Sapphire?" a deep voice asked.

"Yes, Mr. Mitchell?" she asked in a friendly voice.

"Raphael hasn't called or picked up his cell. Is he ok?" Mr. Mitchell asked. Sapphire immediately felt like she was going to break down. She knew that Raph was not only his father's son but he was also that last memento of his mother to the poor man. Raph told her once that while his father may have been married now, he still cared deeply for his birth mother. She didn't know how he would react if she told him that Raph was captured but she couldn't lie to him.

"Something's happened…" Sapphire said miserably. Raph's leather jacket was still on her and at that point she felt it's warmth like Raph was trying to comfort her; that just made her feel worse.

"What do you mean? Didn't you two make it to camp?" Mr. Mitchell asked with a little more alarm.

"I'm sorry…Raph and I were on a mission and he…" Sapphire couldn't control her tears as they fell. She hung up right away and turned off her phone. She couldn't talk to him anymore. She cried softly for a few moments before she calmed down. Thankfully there wasn't really anyone there so she wasn't seen. She pulled her jacket close and whispered "I'll find you Raph…I know you're alive,"

The rest of the day was rather troublesome. She was able to avoid the hunters for the most part except for Zoe, who tried to reason with her to accept Artemis's offer. She only angered Sapphire though when she tried to reason that Raph would turn bad at some point. She snapped at her and said that some boy only turn bad because people like them force them too. Zoe actually looked stunned at that remark, she'd probably never been snapped at like that. Sapphire felt satisfaction at getting a reaction like that from her.

Dinner wasn't very good either since everyone except for the hunters seemed to be in a sour mood. Most of her siblings were gone for the year until summer so she had little company and everyone could tell she just wasn't in the mood. She looked at Percy and Thalia who were sitting at their tables by themselves and she wished she could go talk to them.

Sleep was pretty much the worst part of that night. She already had to basically stuff her phone behind two layers of pillows to avoid calls from her mother or Raph's family. But her dreams were the worst. She saw Raph and Annabeth trying to hold something up that was clearly crushing them. The scary part of it was that she realized that was actually happening.

Raph's POV

"So…uh…what monuments did you want to visit?" Raph grunted painfully. Sweat was rolling down his face and his body was screaming at him to give in but he refused and Annabeth was in a similar situation. They had been holding the sky up for…he didn't know actually and he didn't care. They had managed to stay on their feet somehow but Raph knew they were both only running on their willpower but that couldn't power their bodies forever.

"I wanted to go see Hoover Dam for a long time but I never got to it. I studied it in one of my classes once," Annabeth replied painfully. About an hour or whatever time had passed, they had started talking about history and architecture again to try and ignore the pain and the thoughts that they were going to die like that. It didn't really do much but they had to do something to prevent them from going mad. Raph definitely needed a distraction from thinking about never seeing Sapphire again.

"This is rather boring…" Atlas's voice boomed through his head. It might've been from the stress his body was taking but Atlas's voice sounded like it was even louder than before.

"Hm…maybe we should make this a little more interesting?" Atlas asked. Raph had no idea what was going on but he didn't like it. Suddenly he saw some kind of rope latch onto Annabeth's leg and then it tugged her, making her let go of the sky and fall onto the ground. Raph gasped as the entire weight was put on him now. His body screamed in pain and he almost buckled.

"Raph!" Annabeth shrieked. He saw her get pulled out from under the sky, screaming and thrashing to try and get free but holding the sky had taken a toll on her and she was weakened. Nonetheless she tried to free herself to help him.

"Ahhh!" Raph felt his legs start to give out and he fell to his knee. He bit back a yell of pain since his knee hit the rock stone rather hard. He locked his arms to try and hold the sky better but his body was just in so much pain that it didn't seem to do much. He couldn't rise to his feet; he was stuck in that position. He was able to barely raise his head to look up at what was happening. Annabeth was struggling against two monsters and he saw Atlas smiling cruelly at him.

"Well son of Athena? Are you ready to give up? Do you have a plan to get out of this one?" Atlas asked. Raph wanted to yell at him but his voice wouldn't work with all the pain.

"Raph! Please, let me go!" Annabeth begged as she stared at him. Raph met her eyes, telling her that his body wouldn't hold for much longer and she only thrashed even more frantically.

"Ah…I see you're having fun," Raph recognized the voice. It was Luke; he felt his anger boil at the thought of him since he was the reason he was in that predicament.

"Luke! Please! Let me help him!" Annabeth pleaded to the blonde guy. Luke looked terrible still but he looked at least a little bit better.

"Hm…you know, I have learned that this demigod has only known about his heritage for little over a week. Yet look at how he strives to live," Luke commented.

"He is dead already," Atlas said.

"Perhaps or…perhaps he can join us," Luke said. Raph wanted to say he would never join people like them but he couldn't speak so he settled for a pained glare. Luke crouched down in front of him.

"Tell me something Raphael…I know you hold anger towards your mother for not being in your life. It's obvious she doesn't care for you or even know you're there," Luke said. Raph growled at him weakly since he struck the nail right on the top.

"If your mother really cared for you don't you think she'd be down here fighting to save you right now?" he asked. Raph didn't want to think about it but it did make sense to him. He remembered how angry he was at his mother when he was younger for abandoning him and his father; how much he wanted to know anything about her so he could maybe try to find her. Now he knew his mother was a goddess but now he also knew that he was one of billions over the eons and he wouldn't be the last.

"You know I'm telling you the truth…so what would you say if I told you that you could make her pay?" Luke asked. Raph didn't know whether it was because he was tired and in pain or that his anger was getting the better of him but he had to admit that he was curious.

"Raph! Don't listen to him! Our mother loves you! She claimed you after you were born! She never abandons her children! She left you to shield you from the monsters and she gave you your sword to protect yourself!" Annabeth shouted. Raph turned his gaze towards Annabeth.

"Remember Sapphire? You won't get to see her again if you side with them! Please Brother…" Annabeth pleaded. That seemed to give Raph an answer and enough power to give one last act of defiance. He pushed with all his might until he was standing on his feet again and Luke actually looked surprised.

"I won't betray my mother…or my friends…" he said in a weak voice but his spirit was far from weak. Luke looked disappointed before he snapped his fingers. Raph saw the two empousas holding Annabeth back just release her. She stumbled towards Raph but Luke caught her before she could help him.

"My my…such loyalty," Luke pushed her under the sky, gently but he prevented her from helping him by holding her down. Raph glared at him, he wanted to rip his head off and mount it on a spear. He shook his head softly when he thought of that; he'd been listening to Clarisse too much.

"Bring her," Luke ordered. Raph was confused about what was going on until he saw two rather big monsters drag in a struggling auburn-haired girl bound in golden chains of celestial bronze. She was wearing a tattered silver dress and she had some cuts but her blood was golden. She was a goddess! Her silver eyes locked on him and she looked a bit surprised. Then at that point, his body reminded him that he was in pain and he almost fell to his knee again but he barely held on. He wasn't able to look up anymore but Annabeth was in his sight now. The look in her eyes told him she wanted to help but he knew she was too weak from the exertion to fight Luke off to help him.

"He won't be able to hold out forever…" Luke said.

"Why should I care for the problems of one male demigod?" Raph was in pain so it was hard to hear but he was pretty sure it was the goddess who said that. He wondered what she meant by "male" demigod.

"Yes but do you see the girl under the sky as well? If he falls then she will be killed as well…choose carefully Artemis…" Atlas added darkly. Raph felt his legs start to give out on him but he refused to fall while Annabeth could be crushed as well. He heard the name but he didn't have time to think about why she was there besides the obvious.

"How dare you…" he heard Artemis hiss at Atlas.

"You can save her but you see you will have to save him if you want to save her…" Atlas boomed.

"Free my hands," Artemis said. Luke let go of Annabeth but before she could try to help Raph he pushed her down, that time not so gently. Raph heard a loud crash of metal cutting metal and then he suddenly felt the sky being lifted from his shoulders. His body responded to the relief immediately and he practically collapsed onto the ground. His entire body felt like it was on fire. He had worked himself hard plenty of times during his training with his stepmom and his martial arts training but his body never hurt as bad as it did at that point. Thankfully right before he hit the ground, someone caught him, it was Annabeth.

"Raph!" Annabeth said worriedly. She grunted as she eased him down so he was kneeling but she still had to support him. Raph was panting badly from holding the sky. He felt Annabeth wrap her arms around him and embraced him. Raph was tired but he was able to return the embrace.

"I'm so sorry…" she said sadly as she pulled back to look at him.

"It's ok…" Raph panted out. Annabeth shook her head at him and embraced him again.

"How touching…" Atlas's voice boomed. Raph and Annabeth pulled apart to look at the titan. Raph glared at him, his breathing had come under control finally but his limbs felt like jelly.

"You never could stand by while a maiden was in trouble. You are as predictable as you were east to beat, Artemis," Atlas said.

"You surprised me," Artemis said, straining under the burden of the sky. "It will not happen again."

"Indeed it will not," Atlas said. "Because now you are out of the way for good."

"You know nothing of mercy, you swine," Artemis cursed.

"Ha! We can agree on that! Like, you may kill the children now." Atlas said.

"No!" Artemis shouted.

Luke hesitated though. "She-they may be useful, sir. We could use them as bait."

"You really believe that?" Atlas asked. Raph felt Annabeth tighten her hold on him in response.

"Yes and besides…the boy could be persuaded…" Luke said, looking at Raph. Raph glared at him and Luke actually chuckled slightly.

"Are you sure, Luke? I suppose we could use them or one of them as bait but the boy has the look of a warrior, I can tell that much at least…" Atlas said.

"Well then, I suppose you could just watch your minions beat him around for a bit then," Luke said. Raph's eyes widened at that.

"No!" Annabeth pulled Raph closer.

"Ha! Well I suppose I could use a little entertainment. Very well then, you may keep the girl alive," Atlas said. Raph and Annabeth both stared at Luke as he came over and then he practically ripped Annabeth away from Raph. They were both still too tired and weak from holding the sky to resist him.

"Let me go! Raph!" Annabeth shouted as she thrashed against Luke, weakly. Raph tried to reach for his sword to help her but at that point, one of the monsters there had walked over and tossed him a few feet. He hit the ground a bit painfully and he barely got himself up onto his hands and knees to glare up at the monster but his vision was a little bleary from the throw.

"Nothing fatal, please. We want to keep this one alive until Artemis's precious hunters arrive," Atlas said evilly. The monster chuckled; Raph got a better look at him as he stepped closer, his eyes widened when he saw that it was a familiar Cyclops.

"Alik…" Raph said, hatefully. The Cyclops grinned at him, making him shudder.

"That's right and this time you won't get away…"

Sapphire's POV

"Raph!" Sapphire shouted as she woke up. She was sweating and tears were falling from her eyes. She saw her few siblings looking at her rather worriedly. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed lightly. Raph was going through pain right now and no one could help him.

"Sapphire?" Sapphire looked up from her bunk to see her half-sister, Kayla sitting next to her, worried. She hugged her right away and cried into her shoulder. She felt Kayla stroke her hair softly as she cried.

"It's ok, Sapphire. I'm sure Raphael is going to make it through whatever he's going through…" Kayla soothed.

Sapphire stayed in her sister's embrace for a few more moments until she got herself under control. She was miserable though after that and it didn't get better during breakfast. She was able to eat at least but she couldn't stop thinking about Raph. At least they were supposed to play capture the flag so she could probably vent her aggression out on the hunters.

It didn't take them long to start getting ready for the game. Something surprising that happened though was that apparently the children of Aphrodite were going to play with them. Their counselor, Silena said something about proving to the hunters that love wasn't useless.

She told Percy and Thalia about her dream only to be shocked by the fact that they said they had the exact same dream. So they knew that they had to do something quick if they wanted to save their friends. They didn't get to say anything else though since the game was going to start. Thalia and Percy assembled their rather small team to tell them the plan.

"Alright everyone, I am going to lead a team out into the Hunter's territory and try to pick them off. Percy will stay here with the rest of you to protect our flag, anything to add Percy?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah, I'll be roaming so if you need help, give me a shout and I'll be there. Keep everything secure and uh if you see a golden opportunity then take it," Percy said.

"Everyone just do you jobs and we'll win," Thalia said.

"Unless you see the golden opp-" Thalia pushed Percy before he could finish and Sappire saw him get a little shock. Thaia said a quick apology and then they got into position. Sapphire got her bow ready and pulled out one of her concussion arrows. She knew she couldn't use most of her arrows since they weren't supposed to kill them.

"Hey Sapphire!" Sapphire turned to see Nico stumbling up to him wearing armor three sizes too big for him.

"Percy said to stick by you," he said as he tried to lift the sword that was obviously too big for him. Sapphire wanted to laugh since he was cute but the horn signaling the start of the game rang through her ears. She saw Thalia take the Stolls and a couple others into Hunter territory and then she pulled her arrow back and prepared to shoot any hunter who dared step into her line of sight. She saw Beckendorf and Percy start talking before Percy took off right down the middle, towards the enemy flag. There were no guards there and she smiled since she thought they were going to win. Except things would not be that easy for them.

"Sapphire!" Silena shouted. Sapphire turned to her right and saw Zoe and three other hunters emerge from the forest. She took aim and fired her arrow right at Zoe but she easily dodged it. Her arrow let out a concussive blast, disabling all of her companions. Zoe easily disabled Beckendorf and the rest of Sapphires other teammates as she made her way towards her. She pulled out a sticky arrow and took aim at Zoe. She fired but Zoe dodged it again and her sticky arrow hit one of her own teammates, making him sticking him to the ground he was standing on with glue.

Sapphire's eyes widened; she wouldn't be able to fire another arrow at the rate Zoe was closing in on her. She drew her dagger but right when she drew it, Zoe grabbed her arm and her shoulder and used some kind of takedown move on her and threw her onto the ground, not so gently. She coughed when she hit the dirt and she sat up, dizzily to see Percy had the hunter flag and he was running towards them full speed. She thought he was going to win but Zoe crossed the river, dividing their sides first. She even slammed into Percy just to be mean.

"The hunters win!...for the fifty-sixth time in a row…" Chiron said half-heartedly.

"Perseus Jackson!" Thalia shouted. She did not look very happy at all.

"What were you doing?" she accused.

"I got the flag!" Percy shouted, shaking it in her face. Then the two children of the big three started another fight.

"I was at their base!"

"You had too many on you!"

"Oh so it's my fault?!"

"I didn't say that."

"Argh!" suddenly Thalia pushed him but she sent a giant shock at him and blew him right into the water. Sapphire's eyes widened at the move, this was going to be bad. She saw some of the hunters laughing at Percy but they didn't realize whom they were laughing at.

"I'm sorry!" she said quickly, turning pale. Percy sent a wave at Thalia, drenching her badly.

"Yeah, I didn't either," Percy, growled. Some of the campers gasped and the hunters had stopped laughing.

"Stop!" Chiron shouted but the two children of the big three were pissed!

"Seaweed Brain!" Thalia shouted, raising her spear.

"Pinecone Face!" Percy shouted back, raising his sword. Thalia sent a bolt of lightning at him, striking him in the chest but that only seemed to make Percy angrier.

"Thalia!" Percy shouted in anger. Suddenly the winds picked up and Sapphire's eyes went wide when she realized Percy had created a hurricane and they were standing in the eye of the storm! Sapphire saw everyone staring at the Son of Poseidon in fear and awe now. The entire creek suddenly rose from the ground.

"Percy!" Chiron shouted. Percy prepared to throw the creek at Thalia, which would have caught all of them in the process but suddenly he stopped and the winds and the water all returned to normal. He was staring at something and Sapphire followed his gaze to see something rather creepy.

A figure shrouded in murky green mist stepped towards them but it was wrapped in bandages like a mummy!

"This is impossible! It…she has never left the attic. Never!" Chiron exclaimed in disbelief. Suddenly Sapphire felt someone talking in her head.

"_Six shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

_To find two lost ones in dire peril,_

_One shall be lost in a land without rain,_

_The bane of Olympus shows the trail._

_Campers and Hunters Combined Prevail,_

_The Titan's Curse must one withstand,_

_And one shall perish by a parent's hand."_

Suddenly the mummy sat on a rock, cross-legged and the mist dispersed. She went stationary and was unmoving. That was really creepy but Sapphire knew one thing, it was a prophecy she just heard and she was going to be a part of it and save Raph.


	6. The Quest

I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians or Heroes of Olympus

Ok guys the plan is that I am going to try and get through Titan's Curse before I get back to Maelstrom. Also chapters may or may not switch POV's from now on.

Chapter 5: The Quest

Sapphire's POV

Sappire was very anxious, Thalia told her that they were no doubt going to form a team and send them on a quest regarding the prophecy. Thalia and Percy were no doubt anxious like she was. They all knew that the prophecy stated two lost ones and there was no doubt that it was referring to Raph and Annabeth. Sapphire was not going to be left behind, she was going on the quest, dangerous or not. They were waiting for Percy and Grover and she was stomping her foot onto the floor.

"Sorry, the mummy was heavy," Percy, said as he walked into the room. He took his seat at the Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Technically Sapphire wasn't supposed to be there since she wasn't the councilor but no one told her to leave, not even Mr. D, who tried to give them wine for some reason. At least he gave them something to eat though, if you counted Cheez Whiz and crackers as actual food.

"This is pointless," Zoe said, starting off the meeting. Grover apparently loved Cheez whiz though since he started spraying the topping on the snacks.

Sapphire sighed since she remembered that Raph's twin siblings loved the stuff as well. She remembered one night when she stayed the night at his house to help watch his little brother and sister. They were watching a movie and the little kids just kept eating the stuff. Raph tried to feed them something a little healthier…and something that was actually food but they didn't seem to want it. Apparently Raph's parents had promised them that they could eat whatever they wanted that night, much to Raph's annoyance when he found out.

"There is no time to talk. Our Goddess needs us. The hunters must leave immediately." Zoe pressed.

"And go where exactly?" Chiron said in a tired voice. Sapphire was wondered if he was just as annoyed at the hunters as everyone else was.

"West!" Bianca exclaimed. As much as Sapphire hated to admit it, the Hunters probably was the best thing to happen to Bianca. Now she actually showed her face off instead of hiding it under a hat like she did when they first found her. Her eyes were very dark and Sapphire wondered who her parent was since she never saw any other demigod with eyes as dark as hers.

"You heard the prophecy. Six shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get six hunters and go." Bianca continued.

"Yes, Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her at once," Zoe pressed.

"You're missing something as usual," Thalia scoffed. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. Now correct me if I'm wrong but that sounds like we have to do this together."

"No!" Zoe snapped, very quickly. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your. The word is called your, nobody has said thy in like, three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times," Thalia scoffed. Zoe paused for a moment and she tried to say the word but it came out as yerrr instead of your. Sapphire shared a laugh with Thalia.

"I fear the prophecy says you _do_ need out help, Campers and Hunters must cooperate on this quest," Chiron stated.

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, in a bored manner. He was holding a Diet Coke can like it was bad medicine though Sapphire supposed it was to him. " It did say something about two of you perishing. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to work together?" Sapphire wanted to groan since the wine god wasn't helping the situation.

"Then why would they put that in the prophecy to begin with?" Percy asked.

"Learn your manners, Perry," Mr. D said.

"It's Percy, sir," Percy said with half-hearted respect.

"We're supposed to work together. I don't like it either; Zoe, but you know prophecies. You want to try to go against one?" Thalia asked.

"She's right, we have to," Sapphire agreed. Zoe looked at her and her eyes narrowed slightly.

"I thought thy would do anything to stay away from us?" she asked. Sapphire sighed softly before she crossed her arms.

"Don't think this means I want to join you. All I know is that my friends are stuck and this prophecy talks about them as well, not just your goddess. So if we have to work with you, fine." Sapphire said quickly. Zoe didn't respond, which was surprising.

"We can not delay. Today is Sunday. This Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice, the meeting of the gods," Chiron said.

"Artemis must be present. She is only one who has pressed to take up arms against Kronos and his minions. If she is absent, the gods will do nothing and we lose another year of preparing," Artemis said.

"What about Athena, she's the goddess of battle strategy?" Percy asked. Zoe turned towards him and for once she didn't glare.

"She can not do anything because she always bickers with your father about things that are pointless to gods," she said.

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Mr. D asked.

"Yes, Lord Dionysus." Zoe replied. Mr. D just nodded and waved her off.

"I must agree with Zoe. Artemis' presence at the winter council is critical. We have little under a week to find her. We must decide who is going now and send them on their way tomorrow," Chiron said.

"Three and Three," Percy said before everyone started fighting about who was going.

"There's supposed to be six. Three Hunters and three campers that's fair isn't it?" he asked. Everyone was silent for a few moments until Thalia and Zoe talked, actually talked instead of fighting.

"Sounds fair to me, Zoe," Thalia said.

"I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need the strength of numbers on a quest like this," Zoe muttered.

"You'll be retracing the goddess' path. Artemis was after a monster, The Bane of Olympus. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.' A small group is best for this," Chiron advised.

"I have hunted by Artemis's side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be." Zoe said simply. Everyone looked at Dionysus because he was a god and gods tend to know things. He was looking at some kind of wine magazine when he looked up, "Well don't look at me. I'm a young god remember? I don't know all that monster junk. Horrible party conversation."

"Chiron do you know?" Percy asked.

Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them are good. Yet none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance really was a bane of Olympus or the sea monster, Keto. But they are both sea monsters the size of skyscrapers. Your father, Poseidon, would have already sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful, unfortunately I do not know it,"

"That's some serious danger you're facing. It looks like at least two out of the six are going to die." Connor said before his brother elbowed him.

"One shall be lost in the land without rain," Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert." Sapphire and everyone else agreed.

"And the Titan's curse must one withstand," SIlena said. "What could that mean?"

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Grover said softly. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?" Sapphire shuddered slightly at the thought of her own father striking her down but she couldn't picture him doing that. He seemed like he cared for her…sort of. She saw that Percy and Thalia were feeling the same way. She felt really bad since if she felt that bad, then they must've felt ten times worse since they were children of the Big Three. Sapphire had been around long enough now to know that one of them was supposed to be involved in some kind of big prophecy.

"There will be deaths…that much we know," Chiron said grimly.

"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy. "Ah don't mind me, just something interesting happening."

"Percy is right, three campers should go." Silena from the Aphrodite cabin said.

"Oh, I see. I suppose you wish to volunteer?" Zoe sneered. Sapphire glared at her again, Silena wasn't even trying to start anything that time.

"I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!" Silena exclaimed.

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at, what would thy mother say?" Zoe scoffed. Sapphire thought that was going too far and Silena did as well apparently. She began to get out of her chair but the Stoll brothers pulled her back down, thankfully avoiding an incident.

"Stop it," Beckendorf said. He was a big guy with the voice to match. Sapphire learned he was quiet but when he spoke, everyone listened. Even the hunters stopped. "The Hunters can start first. Which three of you will go?"

Zoe stood up right away "I shall go, of course and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked carefully. Zoe nodded in response.

"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor asked.

"Yes," Zoe snapped irritable. "Why?"

"Oh nothing. Just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a big silver T-Shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and other nature things underneath. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"

Zoe sighed and took the shirt from them. Sapphire and Thalia shared a smile. Sapphire was still new but she knew enough about the boys to know that they liked the prank people…a lot. Zoe apparently had no idea what they were doing.

"I would also like to take Bianca as well," Zoe said. Bianca seemed to flinch.

"Me? But…I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good." She stammered.

"You will do fine. There is no better way to prove thyself," Zoe insisted. Sapphire wasn't sure what was going on exactly but Zoe sounded…distressed?

"And for the campers?" Chiron asked.

"Me! Anything for Artemis!" Grover shouted as he stood up from his chair so fast he almost knocked the table over.

Zoe looked rather disgusted. "I think not satyr. You are not even a half-blood."

"But he is a camper," Thalia countered. "He's got his satyr senses and woodland magic. Can't you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?"

"Absolutely!" Grover shouted.

That seemed to make Zoe think. Sapphire didn't exactly know what the heck they were talking about but it seemed to convince Zoe.

"Very well, and the second camper?" Zoe sighed. Before Thalia made a move, Sapphire moved first.

"I'm going," she said as she stood up, it wasn't up for discussion. A lot of the people at the table seemed shocked by her decision or how quick she jumped on the opportunity.

"Sapphire, do you understand what you're signing up for?" Chiron asked, cautiously.

"Of course, I couldn't understand any more after losing Raph and Annabeth…I'm going to find them," Sapphire said with resolve. Chiron sighed and stayed silent.

"Very well…and who will be the third?" Zoe asked. Sapphire wasn't too happy about traveling with her but she would stomach it for Raph.

"I'll go," Thalia said, daring anyone to challenge her. Sapphire would have scoffed if she weren't her friend; Thalia's father was Zeus so it seemed a bit unfair. Sapphire looked at Percy and how alarmed he looked. Then she realized that there were no spots left.

"Wait! I want to go too," Percy objected. Thalia looked at him like she wanted to roast him.

"Oh! Whoa, yeah, I forgot! I didn't mean…I'll stay. Percy should be the one to go," Grover said quickly. Sapphire was about to agree but Zoe of course wouldn't allow it.

"He cannot. He is a boy. I won't have Hunters traveling with a boy." She said harshly.

"You traveled with me here!" Percy countered; Sapphire saw that dark look in his eyes again.

"That was an emergency and it was short-term. I will not travel across the country on a dangerous quest with a boy," Zoe said.

"What about Grover!" Percy demanded. He had slammed his hands onto the table and Sapphire knew everyone could hear the waves crashing outside. Everyone was alarmed, even Thalia and Zoe.

"He is a satyr. So he is technically not a boy." Zoe said.

"Hey!" Grover protested. Sapphire agreed, that was completely out of line and a poor excuse.

"I have to go!" Percy protested. Now Sapphire could hear the winds outside start to pick up. She hoped they weren't in another hurricane. Everyone in the room seemed to be alarmed now.

"Why because of thy friends Annabeth and Raph?" Zoe asked. Percy sighed and everything seemed to calm down, thankfully.

"Yes. I need to find Annabeth…and Raph. I'm the one who jumped the gun. I'm the reason they got captured in the first place. I have to go…please…" Percy said softly. Percy looked around at everyone but no one rose to his defense, even Thalia and Grover stayed quiet. They were all looking at the table guiltily or giving him apologetic looks. Sapphire knew he deserved some kind of defense; he deserved that much respect at least from them.

"Percy should go. He is a son of Poseidon. We'll need all the power we can get if this quest is as dangerous as we all think," Sapphire rose from her seat again. Zoe looked at her like she was crazy.

"I will not go with a boy, son of the big three or not…" she hissed, glaring at Sapphire like she was a rabbit and she was a lioness. Sapphire didn't back down though and stared the huntress right in the eye.

"His name is Percy, and stop referring to him like he's not present. He is the strongest demigod we have and we need the best if we're going to win. I know men have had a longer history of cruelty than woman but that doesn't mean you can condemn them all for the actions of the few, most of which aren't even alive anymore. Get over your stupid pride and sexist attitude before you doom us all!" Sapphire snapped. Zoe looked stunned, like no one had ever stood up to her like that, good, Sapphire felt pretty good about that. She looked at Percy and he gave her a thankful look. Sapphire looked at some of the others and they looked even guiltier.

"Sapphire, please sit down, thank you for standing for Percy, but it is the Hunter's decision," Chiron said strictly. Sapphire wanted to object for her friend again but Thalia pulled her back down and gave her look that told her to stay quiet. Sapphire growled softly in frustration and Thalia sighed in annoyance and kept a firm grip on her shoulder.

Zoe looked a bit taken back for a moment but unfortunately it was only a moment.

"No. I insist that I not take the male hero," Percy looked at Chiron for any kind of support but he received none.

"It is a quest for Artemis, they should be the ones to decide," Chiron said. Sapphire stopped resisting Thalia after that and slumped back in her chair. She wanted Percy to come with them, she needed all the help she could get if she wanted to save Raph and Annabeth. She knew that the two would want Percy on the quest and she did as well.

Percy looked rather stunned before he looked pleadingly at the council members for support. Sapphire wanted to speak but Thalia covered her mouth and shook her head at her. Percy sighed and he stood up, hard, sending his chair onto the floor and then he just walked out of the room without a word. Except as he left, Sapphire thought she saw the Stolls slip something into Percy's hand.

Everyone stared after him in silence. Even the Hunters didn't comment. Chiron looked like he wanted to follow him but he decided against it. In his defense though, it wasn't hard to decide against it when the sound of crashing waves hit their ears for a few seconds. Chiron sighed before placing his hands on the table.

"So be it. Sapphire, Grover and Thalia will accompany Zoe, Bianca and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. You only have until the Winter Solstice to succeed. And may the gods-present company included we be with you," he said. Sapphire looked at the Stolls after that and they sent her small smiles. She didn't know why at the time but she smiled back. She just had a good feeling at that point that maybe Percy would be coming with them after all.


End file.
